THE BEST SELLING MAGAZINE FOR THE
ISSUE 36 • SEP
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Micro Desi gn
New DTP package makes paste-ups a thing of the past
Arnor's 1989 PCW Software Sale
PROTEXT ... The Word Processor
Protext is now firmly established as the alternative to Locoscript.
All the features you would expect from a good word processor - many text editing commands, print
commands, spell checking and mall-merging. The refinement and thought that has been put Into the
program - logical keystrokes and commands, clear layout, speed and power ... all go towards making
Protext ideal for the novice or the experienced user.
* On-screen help * Typewriter mode * Insert or overwrite typing mode * Word count * Undelete feature
» Move/copy/delete/print blocks of text * Box manipulation * Configuration * Personal dictionaries » Exec
files * Two file editing * Keyboard macros • File conversion * Comprehensive Find & Replace * Foreign
languages and accents * Program editing mode * Proportional printing, right justified * Conditional
printing and loop constructs * Print any number of copies * Works with any printer * Calculator * Print
labels * Use the maths/string functions to produce personalised invoices etc *
• Compatible with PCW 951 2 * Enhanced spelling checker - larger dictionaries, dictionary on drive M or on
program disc * Many improvements based on customer feedback *
"Protext deserves to be the system by which all other word
processors are judged ... a superb product your computer
" The great strength of this package is its ease of use" cwta
"Protext is the solution to all Locoscript s drawbacks' pcw
"Makes Locoscript look like a snaiT soooplus
"Simply the best word processing program to date for the
PCW ... Locoscript is effectively dead" putting your
AMSTRAO TO WORK
Protext is also available in German at £59.95 (Prowort)
Special Offer - Save £20
Buy Pretext together with the book
for £49.90 and save £20 off RRP.
(RRP £59,95 +£9.95 = £69-90)
Pretext + Book £49.90
... The Book
At long last an Independently
produced book about Protext,
written by Rob Ainsley.
The book features a large section
of tips for easy reference and is
well illustrated with screen shots
and printouts.
It also includes a section written to
help the Locoscript user to
'convert' quickly to Protext.
ft is an essential purchase for any
current or potential Protext user
whatever their word processing
experience.
Protext.A PCW User's guide
192 pages, illustrated paperback
Price £9.95 + £1 post/packing
(Post/packing is free if buying a
piece of software)
New low prices for CP/M languages
MAXAMII
Complete CP/M machine code development system
* Macro assembler * nested conditional assembly * file
inclusion • textual substitution of macro parameters
* repeat loops * Full expression evaluation * Error listing to
screen/file/printer * 8080 mode * Unking facility * Create
object files for use with C *
Window based monitor, with:
* line assembler * disassembler * memory editor * find
string * relocate * move memory * compare memory * fill
memory • bank switching * symbolic debugger * single
stepping • set memory limits for stepping * stack checking
* conditional breakpoints * trace mode * edit registers
* Editor is program mode of Protext (as for C) *
"Maxam II- now the best gets even better" cwta cpc
A really excellent piece of software which, given the speed
with which debugging can be done, will pay its way vary
quickly ACU
"The thing that struck me ... was the amount of thought
and effort that has gone into this product" cwta cpc
"Maxam II is stunning ...the most complete and competent
programming package around. Simple, speedy and
sophisticated' amstrad action
RRP £49.95
Sale price £24.00
Complete C development system
* Full implementation of K&R standard *
* Optimising compiler * Floating point
arithmetic * 32 and 16 bit integer arithmetic
* I/O and maths libraries * Conditional
compilation * File Inclusion * Macros
•Linker accepts C and assembler (with
Maxam II) * Stand alone generator
produces COM files
Protext compatible editor-
Mast and easy to use "on screen help
•two file editing 'keyboard macros • fully
configurable* powerful find and replace
« exec files * compile from inside editor
" Very good value for money" amstrad pcw
"Streets ahead in terms of programming
power" AMSTRAD ACTION
"In typical Amor fashion, they've taken their
time and got it right amstrad computer user
"All the facilities necessary to write
complete applications programs'
POPULAR computing weekly
RRP £49.95 Sale price £24.00
BCPL
Flexible, fast, general purpose
programming language.
Extensive set of I/O libraries
including access to CP/M routines.
Example source files supplied,
including full screen editor and all
the libraries. Comprehensive
60 page manual covers the
language and gives details of the
libraries.
"Easy to use, yet both flexible and
powerful" CWTA
■ Good library of procedures ... very
fast 8000 PLUS
"Amor's dear, concise manual will
have you programming
confidently very rapidly
AMSTRAD ACTION
RRP £24.95 Sale £12.00
All programs run on PCW8256/8512, 9512, CPC6128
fle/eas/ng your micro's potent/a/ .
etWI^Z
Arnor Ltd /EPJ, 611 Lincoln Road, Peterborough, PE1 3HA. Tel: 0733 68909 ,
All prices include VAT, postage and packing. Access/Visa/Cheque/Postal Order. Fax.' 0733 67299
8000
PLUS
FUTURE PUBLISHING
4 QUEEN STREET
BATH • BA1 1EJ
TEL • 0225 446034
FAX • 0225 446019
EDITOR
Sieve Palieni
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Sharon Bradley
STAFF WRITER
Tim Smith
ART EDITOR
Julie Barnes
ART ASSISTANT
Martin Patf.n
AD PRODUCTION
Fiona Milne
ADVERTISEMENT
MANAGER
Elaine Brooks
PUBLISHER
Kevin Cox
FUTUHE PUBLISHING
THE OLD BARN
SOMERTON
SOMERSET -TA11 7PY
TEL -0458 74011
MAIL ORDER QUERIES
Sarah Richards
TEL • 0458 7401 1
SUBSCRIPTION
ENQUIRIES
Chrisllne Stacey
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY
STUART 8AYNES
PHOTOGRAPHY
TEL -0225 442148
ART MATERIALS FOR COVER
MINERVA GRAPHICS
TEL 4&4054
COLOUR ORIGINATION
OP GRAPHICS
HOLT. WILTS
ILL 0225 783004
PRINTING
CHASE WEB OFFSET
ST AUSTELL CORNWALL
DISTRIBU ON
COMAG
WEST DRAYTON
MIDDLESEX UB? 70E
FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD
1989
AW Ptut s an /naeoanoarn
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nare no irt* iwrn Anttadple
We welcome conmovnont from
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mm momK&v * return ol tne
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after pubUcaKnoale
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cannot accept M6% *v any
mUtascrmrxpnnts. NopMolrna
Ductfcaidn may oa rwpmouoM m
any torffi metotit cut painws&i
ABC Jan julySS 30.589
OPENING MENU
H
10
m
®
m
m
®
41
45
m
51
m
m
m
®
m
m
m
m
NEWS PLUS
There is news - all print to fit
TRAIN SPOTTING
We interview the people behind the products
MAGAZINE WRITING
A contributor's approach to articles
CP/M
A look at SETKEYS. the keyboard utility
HEADERS
Get those page headers right in LocoScript
QUICKIES
Accounting for every taste
SUPERZAP
Files unerased faster than a speeding Aardvark
BIRTHDAY TREAT
8000 Plus is three today - hurray!
TRUE GRIT
Overcoming adversity with the PCW
BOOK LOOK
Two very different books on word processors
SLOW STORY
An unusual story of PCW farming folk
PAGE PROCESSOR
MicroDesign II is more than a desktop publisher
HOW TO PROGRAM
More on mastering Basic
ASF9512
The new sheet feeder for the 9512 reviewed
PASCAL PONDERED
A shallow look at a different language
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
The new Money Manager from Connect reviewed
LANGFORD
Hes' had enough, of bad - punctuation?
LISTINGS PLUS
Summer box of fun with Yibble
TIPOFFS
A yard and a half of best tips
GOOD SOFTWARE GUIDE
Databases, education, comms and programming
SPECIAL OFFERS
The 8000 Plus emporium
POSTSCRIPT
Letters speak to each other
COMPETITION TIME
A chance to win a language course
111
Train Spotting
We journey into deepest Dorking to talk Loco
41
Snail farming
Some PCW users
will go to incredible
lengths - 1.5 inches
and even bigger
r. >
Micro Desi gn
Nrw DTP package mjhe* pmWupt a Ihmg of tt» p»l
45
MicroDesign II
Is this software the ultimate in page processing on
the PCW?
51
Sheet Feeder
We put Amstrad's latest piece of hardware through
its paces
When Amstrad wanted to
make a better PCW, they
bought LocoScript 2
When you want to make
your PCW better, you too
can buy LocoScript 2*
LOCOSCRIPT 2 GIVES YOU:
QUICKER USE
Fast movement around documents
Jump direct to a page
Save and continue from last position
BETTER RESULTS
Choice of over 300 printers
Improved characters on the built-in printer
New characters (including Greek and Cyrillic)
Special scientific characters
Use accents with any character
EASIER OPERATION
■ Multiple printed copies
■ Disc copying direct from LocoScript
■ New user guide with glossary and
quick reference
■ Improved FIND and EXCHANGE
COMPATIBILITY
■ Familiar feel of LocoScript menus
■ Use existing LocoScript documents
■ FREE upgrade of LocoMail and
LocoSpell
Locomotive Software's LocoScript 2 is supplied with the
PCW9512, but is also available for your PCW8256/8512.
LocoScript 2 costs just £24.95 including VAT and UK postage
(*but of course, it won't turn your 8256/8512 into a 9512).
Contact Locomotive Software for further details of
Locoscript 2 and other Locomotive products for
the PCW - ask for our 16 page detailed brochure.
LOCOMOTIVE
SOFTWARE
Allen Court, Dorking,
Surrey, RH4 1YL
(0306) 740606
NEWS PLUS
FOREWORD
Voice over
As we all know to our cost the
Royal Mail is both expensive and
slow. Indeed, so slow that a
plethora of private companies
have grown up to offer a fast
mail service at a high price.
Even the Post Office, with
believable cynicism, has jumped
on the bandwagon and offers an
'express' service - at a price.
They'll charge you £1.65 plus
postage to try and get your letter
to its destination the following
day; no guarantees you'll notice.
So what has this got to do
with the PCW? Well I'll tell you.
Part of my job is to cope with
comms, which is how I used to
think of it, coping. But these
days familiarity has made me
fairly blase when mucking about
with modems. It's strange at first
since contacting a bulletin board
has the immediacy of a phone
call, yet your words do not
evaporate into the ether as with
spoken telephone conversation,
but hang around.
This tends to give rise to the
Answering Machine Syndrome;
callers will poke about on a
bulletin board but not leave any
messages; this is carrying
shyness too far - answering
machines and bulletin boards
are there to be used. The way to
think about messages on bulletin
boards is as open letters. They
are there to be commented on,
so comment: (There is only one
thing in the world worse than
being talked about, and that is
not being talked about.)
So make a resolution never
to visit a bulletin board without
leaving a message. If it's the first
visit leave an open message,
announce your interests and ask
for some feedback.
But back to the Post Office.
At 1200 baud you can send
nearly 1000 words per minute.
You can experience the joy of
making human contact and the
added joy of spending less than
10p for over 1500 words on a
long distance call (off peak).
Your words get there at the
speed of light and there's no
nonsense about losing them for
a fortnight at the Stroud sorting
office. Make someone happy
with a phone call; you.
<u
Tempdisc
competition
winners
In an scrupulously adjudicated
draw the winners of the July
Tempdisc competition were
chosen from the highest entry
yet. The four winners will all
receive the relevant version of
Tempdisc while the sixteen
runners up get a standard
Tempmate. The four lucky
winners are:
• G F Lawrence
Brighton
East Sussex
• David clarke
East Sheen
London
• Rev. R Mclure
Churchtown
Southport
• Chris Harris
Grose Covert
Warrington
Many thanks to Thurston
Techniques who provided the
prizes and are even now
mailing them to the winners
and from whom a list of the
runners up is available.
Showtime
The personal Computer Show
(nee Personal Computer World
Show) is now in its twelfth year
and, say organisers Montbuild,
looking better than ever. The show
is being held from the 27th of
September to the 1 st of October at
Earls Court and will as usual be
divided into business and leisure
areas with an overlapping central
hall. We would tell you a lot more
but the press releases are full of
nonsense about Ataris. Amigas
and games with 4096 colours.
However, the free tickets are
already arriving in the office thick
and fast. We may go, and if we do
we will tell you how it was.
Autumn sale
The CP/M and MSDOS Users
Group are organising a sale of
second hand computers,
peripherals and software (surely
they mean pre-owned?) The sale
will be held on 30th of September
at the Spring Lodge Community
Centre in Witham.
If you are a vendor and want a
stand at this event it will cost you
£10 and you must book in
Ramming it home
Despite doubts, some of them
expressed in this very organ, we
finally have an actual, working
512k RAM disc in this very office,
in fact we have two: one attached
to a 9512 machine and another
built into an 851 2.
Isenstein say they originally
produced some 250 RAM drives
as a water tester right back at the
beginning of the year. These
were hand built prototypes all of
which sold immediately. Since
then they have been taking
orders for the RAM drives while
trying to ramp up production to
the levels necessary for
commercial production. This they
say they have now done and
claim to be shipping them out to
customers at a rate of some 800
to a 1 000 per week.
So far production is limited to
an internal board which
necessitates some guarantee
invalidating alterations, which
Isenstein are offering to do for
customers at a very reasonable
price. We are told that there will
probably be an alternative, and
more expensive, version that
comes in a box to plug straight
onto the expansion port at the
back of the PCW. For a full
review of the new RAM drive, and
how it works with various
software packages. see
October's packed issue.
■■FF^jjjjjjjffl
The working molherboard Irom an 8512 machine with the 512k daughterboard attached.
Dingbyte
What is the computer related word or phrase? No prizes
but the answer's on page 8.
S>
September 89 8000 PLUS
' THE WEST OF BRITAIN BUSINESS SERVICES
REMEMBER ALL OUR PRICES INCLUDE V.A.T & CARRIAGE
COMPUTERS
AMSTRAD PCW S « free disc
STORAGE BOX S CONTAINING DATABASE.
GRAPHICS PACK. PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST +
GAMES ETC.
PCW8256 374.95
PCW8512 _ 469.95
PCW95I2 515.00
PC'i(IBMCOMPATs)
oooaoooooooooft
CALL FOR VERY LOW PRICES :SAMSUNG. AMSTRAD
llndixilni! Ihe PC2000 Scries). HC |XT ftATsl. OPUS.
SANTO. COMMODORE PC s AND MORE INCLUDING:-
THINKING OF UPGRADING TO A PC?
u THE EXECUTIVE RANGE FROM OSICOM «
SAMPLE PRICES. EXECUTIVE 88/10
lOMta / 640k RAM / AMBER MONITOR / SINGLE
DISC DRIVE/ 101 KEY AT STYLE KEYBOARD 4
EXPANSION SLOTS AND. 20 Mb HARD DISCI ■ WE
USE THEM ON OUR OWN NETWORK SYSTEM
ALL IN AT 872.85
SEND FOR OUR FREE CATALOGUE
AS ABOVE BUT 40Mb ! ONLY-993.60
EXECUTIVE 286/12 NETWORK MASTER I ?
!2.5Mhz /640k RAM / AMBER MONrTOR / 20 Mb
HARDDISK.DISKCACHE/ 101 KEY KEYBOARD
I EGA CARD AS STANDARD I 1 178.75
AS ABOVE BUT 44 Mb & EGA!- 1737.65
««4»4O00lllll»4»ll
O O OLTNK YOUR PCW TO A PC!o O ft
If you wish lo run your accounls on a PC bul
use your Irusly PCW as a very cost effective
workstation I and as a stand alone PCW! | send
for details of Compact Accounts PC2PC system!
OQOOOOGOOftOGOO
SCHNEIDER- I IBM COMPATIBLES )
The full range Is available, from W.B.B.S
at very competitive prices.
PORTABLE PC's -
AMSTRAD PPC. Z88. SCHNEIDER AT etc.
PRINTERS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
TO SLTr THE JOB YOU HAVE IN MIND - OR
YOUR POCKET ! WE CAN SUPPLY 9 TO 24 PIN
AND DAISYWHEELS THROUGH TO LASERS:-
CrnZEN (WITH THEIR 2 YEAR GUARANTEE.
AMSTRAD INCLUDING THE LQ35O0 & LQ5000.
PANASONIC. HEWLETT PACKARD. AND MORE!
EXAMPLE PRICES:
LOW COST / HIGH PERFORMANCE DOT MATRIX
CITIZEN 1 20D/PARALLEL INTERFACE .155.00
CITIZEN HQP45 24 PIN 132 COLUMN 399.00
CITIZEN HQP40 24 PIN 80 COLUMN 419.00
LOW COST / HIGH PERFORMANCE DAISYWHEEL:
QUENDATA DWP 1 120 • 279.95
gUME COMPATIBLE WILL TAKE A4 LANDSCAPE
PCW HARDWARE
PCW 2nd 3 _ drive |FD4| 129.95
MEMORY UP-GRADE PRICES DOWN!!! 49.95
T1MATIC 20Mb PCW HARD DISK 569.95
O O oPOWER FOR YOUR PCW IIIO
MARGIN MAKER • aligns paper 10.50
PERFECT MARGINS as above 8.99
PCW 8256/8512 SHOULDER BAG 22.95
PCW 9512 SHOULDER BAG 3335
S.C.A SERIAL/PARALLEL INTERFACE -
WITH REALTIME CLOCK! 57.75
PACE 5.25" 2nd drive - with its own
built in interface. Comes with free
TDOS 8 external power supply. Very
easy to fit. We use one lo r data trans :
lfii Irom PCW/PC/PCW1 184.95
WrrHOUT REAL TIME CLOCK 47.75
AMSOFT or PACE SER/PAR INTERFACE 54.95
SPIKE PROTECTOR PLUG HELPS PROTECT
COMPUTERS AGAINST POWER SURGES 1 1.75
PCWSOOOs WIRE PRINTER STAND 10.50
NH'ERSAL PRINTER STAND any size 16.95
DATA SWITCHES - 2 * 1 39.95
ACCOUSnC HOOD FOR 9512 PRINTER 37.89
3" DISC HEAD CLEANER. „ 8.95
PRINTER CLEANING KIT PCW8000S 16.75
MOUSE MATS 4.99
MODEMS
MIRACLE TECHNOLOGY MODEMS
WS4000 ....169.95
WS4000PCW, c/w INTEGRAL INTERFACE FOR
THE PCW & CONNECTING LEAD! 169.95
PACE - MODEMS
LINNET-INTELLIGENT. V2 1 /V23 149.95
Cable lo PCW INTERFACE 15.99
DIALUP-COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE 67.75
o<r<r<r<r<r<r<ri>i»a<ri>**l>o
O BBD DUST COVER SET O
6 PCW8256/85I2 11.95 c
a PCW9512 13.95 o
<. PC1640/1512 state col or mono.9.00 o
t AMSTRAD PPC 6.00 a
a PACE DISC DRIVE COVER 5.75 Q
c PLEASE STATE MODEL WHEN ORDERING „
OOOOftOftOOOOOOOOft
SOFTWARE ! I DTP AND GRAPHICS
If you are not CERTAIN as to what
your requirements are please phone
DISCS
CF2 3' FOR THE PCW/CPC POA
3.5"ATHANA DS/DD DISC ..xlO 15.95
5.25" BULK-UNBRANDED ...xlO 4.99
5.25" BULK-UNBRANDED. ..x25 11.99
5.25" BULK-UNBRANDED ...x50 19.99
5.25" BULK-UNBRANDED ...xlOO 37.99
5.25" 3M DS/DD DISCS J(I0 11.25
5.25" 3M DS/DD DISCS x50 49.75
5.25" 3M DS/DD DISCS xlOO 94.75
DISC STORAGE
DS10CF2 3" (HOLDS 10) 6.25
AMS30L (AMSTRAD BRANDED) 12.75
DS40L 373.5" LOCKABLE 9.75
CT-3100 373.5- " 11.75
CT-50 5.25" .(HOLDS 501.." 9.75
DS100L 5.25'. .. [H OLDS 1 001..." 11.75
PRINTER RD3B0NS
REFRESH! • BLACK RE-INKING SPRAY 8.95
EXTENDS Fabnc ribbon life - will
re Ink up lo 30 ribbons!!!
EXCELLENT VALUE COMPATIBLE RD3BONS:-
PCW 8256 FABRIC (14m length).... x 2 7.49
PCW 8256 CARBON MULTISRIKE . x 2 7.49
PCW 9512 CARBON MULTIST1KE.. X 2 6,99
PCW 9512 NEW FABRIC TYPE x2 6.99
AMSTRAD BRANDED PRINTER RIBBONS
PCW8256 FABRIC _x 2 14.99
PCW8256 CARBON MULTiSTRIKE x 2 14.99
PCW9512 CARBON MULTISTRIKE x 2 13.99
PCW9512 NEW FABRIC TYPE x 2 13.99
NEW ! • COLOUR RIBBON'S:
PCW 8000 SERIES FABRIC:
GREEN / RED / BLUE / BROWN / YELLOW /
PURPLE / MAGENTA or CYAN.
ANY TWO 10.75
ANY FIVE 26.75
ANY TEN 49.75
oMANY OTHER RIBBON TYPES AVAILABLEo
COMPUTER PAPER
1 1" x 9.5" Continuous:
SP/05 1 ply plain- ....500 sheets 8.95
SP/10 I plv plain ...1000 sheets 12.95
SP/20 1 plv plain ...2000 sheets 17.95
DP/05 2 piy plain - ...500 sheets 17.95
DP/ 10 2 ply plain - . 1000 sheets 27.95
11" x 14.5" Contlnuous:-
1 ply plain - 500 sheets 9.95
1 ply plain - 1000 sheets 1 1.95
1 ply plain - 2000 sheets 24.95
A4 - (TRUE A4) 80 gsm - Continuous:
500 x Plain white/micro pcrf.... 13.95
1000.. ..x Plain white/micro perf 21.95
2000.. ..x Plain white/micro perf 35.95
M - (TRUE A4) - Single Sheets:-
Plaln white- 500 sheets 7.95
Plain while - 1000 sheets 14.95
LABELS - WITH SPROCKET HOLES:-
ONEWIDE3 l/2"x 1 7/16" - 500 7.95
ONEW1DE3 l/2"x 1 7/16" -1000 12.95
ONE WIDE 3 l/2'x 1 7/16" -2000 22.95
ONE WIDE 3 1/2'x 1 7/16" 4000 ....39.95
WE STRIVE HARD TO BE THE
FRIENDLDSST AND MOST HELPFUL PLACE
AROUND WITH LOW PRICES AND FAST
DESPATCH THAT WILL BRING YOU BACK
FOR MORE & MORE!
THE NEW MIM OFFICE PROFESSIONAL
PLUS (r.r.p 49.95) W.B.B.S. PRICE 34.45
WORDPROCESSORS
PROTEXT • FLU SYSTEM : WORDPROCESSOR/
SPELLCHECKER /MAILMERGE 39.75
PROTEXT FILER (needs Pretext) 19.75
PROTEXT OFFICE (needs Pretext) 26.75
POCKET PROTEXT WORDPRO. ONLY 25.75
SWALLOWTAIL SOFTWARE PRESENTS
PRO-EAZE
A complete set of business utility programs for
the serious user fo Pretext who does not have
the time to get the best out of the
program themselves. Comprises Invoicing.
ordering, settlement of suppliers invoices and
many other useful documents (further details
upon request) only 14.95
WORTH GETTING PROTEXT FORI
LOCOrTLE • links with loco II 27.75
LOCOCOMBO - LOCOSCRIPT II & SPELL..31.75
LOCOSCRIPTII - NEW VERSION ...21.75
LOCOMAIL II 27.75
LOCOSPELLI! 17.45
LOCOFONTS 17.45
LOCOFONTSII 13.75
TASPR1NT8000 11.75
TASSIGN 8000 ..
24.75
DIGtTA E TYPE 27.75
MAS.S. EASY IABELLER 28.75
DATABASE SPELLCHECK/THESAURUS..22.75
SPREADSHEETS
SUPERCALCII 39.75
CRACKER II TURBO 39.95
ROTATE: FOR SIDEWAYS PRINTING! 21.75
DATA BASES
CORNLX CARD INDEX- SIMPLE TO USE ...29.75
MASTERFILE 8000 33.75
DATABASE MANAGER AT LAST PLUS 28.75
dBASE II 79.95
DIGITA - DATASTORE II 28.95
If you are unsure which package you need
lor your business please 'phone' and we will
describe the various packages in dear
jargonless terms - but leave you to decide.
ACCOUNTS
MONEY MANAGER PLUS 27.75
MONEY MANAGER PCW P.O.A
MERIDIAN STOCKMARKET 29.75
CORNDT.
SIMPLE ACCOUNTS II-PCW 94.95
JOB ESTIMATING v2 74.95
PRODUCT COSTING v2 74.95
VITAL- NEW OUT!
THE INCOME PROCESSOR 29.75
THE SAVINGS PROCESSOR 29.75
MICRO SIMPLEX
VAT MADE SIMPLE ■ A/Cs SYSTEM 1 1 5.00
MICRO PUB STOCK 1 1 5.00
COMPACT ACCOUNTS - unbeitible!
ACCOUNTS 159.75
ACCOUNTS PLUS - 189.75
PAYROLL 77.95
DAYBOOK (AND OTHER TITLES AT) 54.95
CAVALIER SOFTWARE
IN BUSINESS (Integrated) 137.75
SIMPLE INVOICING 32.75
DINER : RESTAURANT/TAKE AWATA/Cs ...55.95
H0MEV1EW : ESTATE AGENTS PROGRAM .184.95
NEWSBOY : NEWSPAPER DEL -PROGRAM. ...55.95
RE-CHORD MUSIC LIBRARY-PROGRAM 29.95
NEW! - HOTEL SYSTEM SEND FOR DETAILS
CAMSOFT ACCOUNTS :-
PSIL - INTEGRATED
Stock/lnv./Sales/Purch/Nom .97.75
PSPN - INT. Sales /Purch/Nom 73.45
PPAY - PAYROLL IAND OTHER TITLES! 37.25
SAGE ACCOUNTS :-
POPULAR ACCOUNTS 85.95
POPULAR ACCOUNTS PLUS 127.75
POPULAR ACCOUNTS SUPER 159.75
MAP ACCOUNTS :•
INTEGRATED ACCOUNTS 119.75
MICRO DESIGN II : NEW OUT-ONLY 39.75
STOP PRESS. MOUSE. INTERFACE ETC ...69.75
STOP PRESS SOFTWARE ONLY 32.75
PCW MOUSE & INTERFACE FOR DTP 59.75
DESKTOP PUB & MOUSE 59.75
DESKTOP PUBLISHER 19.95
MASTER PAINT 17.75
MASTER SCAN 55.75
TRAINING
REELTIME
TOP QUALITY TRAINING COURSE ON DISC WITH
INSTRUCTOR ON AUDIO TAPE
LOCOSCRIPT II - PCW95I2....- 34.44
LOCOSCRIPT - PCW8256/8512 34.44
LOCOSCRIPTII - PCW8256/85I2 34.44
CP/M-Learn to use vour computer! 34.44
SUPERCALCII .'. 34.44
dBASE II 34.44
1ANSYST
CRASH COURSE IN TYPING-beeinners 19.75
TWO FINGERS TO TOUCH TYPING 19.75
KOSMOS • LANGUAGE TUTORS
CHOOSE FROM THE FRENCH MISTRESS. THE
GERMAN MASTER. THE SPANISH TUTOR OR THE
ITLAIAN TUTOR EACH AT ONLY 15.75
EDUCATIONAL S FUN I
ANIMAL MINERAL. VEGETABLE 13.75
WORLD WISE 1175
TOPOLOGB5A • other titles available .
GIANTKILLER (maths adv. 9-16 vrsl 14.75
REACH FOR THE TOP WITH LCL-serlous stuff !
LCL : MICRO MATHS 8-ADULT 24.00
LCL : MICRO ENGUSH 8-ADULT 24.00
o Buv both and get £5.00 off total ! c
SCHOOL SOFTWARE
BETTER SPELLING - age 9 - adult 13.75
MAGIC MATHS - age 4 - 8 13.75
MATHS MAMA - age 8 - 12 13.75
BETTER MATHS - age 12- 16 13.75
PHYSICS - age 12 - 16 18.45
CHEMISTRY- age 12 - 16 18.45
BIOLOGY - age 12 - 16 18.45
PLEASE - if you are not certain what you
are ordering does what you expect
contact us first !!!
LEISURE
o ft ADVENTURE GAMES o ft o
LEATHER GODDESSES OF PHOBOS! 22.75
YES CHANCELLOR! (UK Economy Sim) ...14.75
FISH! 18.75
LANCELOT ■ 3 ADVENTURES IN ONE 14.75
J1NXTER 19.75
THE PROFESSIONAL ADVENTURE WRITER »
t WRITE YOUR OWN ADVENTURES ! t ....20.70
CORRUPTION 18.75
S1UCON DREAMS 15.75
TIME AND MAGIK - 3 games 1 1.75
ACHETON 14.75
KINGDOM OF HAMIL 14.75
GUILD OF THIEVES 18.75
ft ft SIMULATIONS ft ft ft
HEATHROW TRAFFIC CONTROL AND
SOUTHERN BELLE (TRAIN SIMULATION) ...14.75
ACE. FLIGHT SIMULATOR 14.75
ACE ♦ JOYSTICK t INTERFACE 29.95
KEMPSTON INTERFACE .JOYSTICK 24.95
KEMPSTON INTERFACE JOYSTICK ONLY .. 14.95
TOMAHAWK • FLIGHT SIMULATION 17.75
STRIKE FORCE HARRIER 17.75
ooo ACTION o o o
TETRJS 17.75
LIVING DAYLIGHTS 11.95
BRIAN CLOUGHS FOOTBALL FORTUNES... 12.75
MATCH DAY II- animated football! 11.75
BATMAN „ 11.75
HEAD OVER HEELS 11.75
CLASSIC COLLECTION I - 3games 14.25
CLASSIC COLLECTION 1 1- 3 games 14.25
ooo TABLE GAMES ooo
CLOCK CHESS 89 - very powerful 16.75
CYPRUS II CHESS - great graphics 15.75
COLOSSUS IV CHESS - verv strong .... 15.75
TRIVIAL PURSUIT 17.45
BRIDGE PLAYER 2000 11.95
COLOSSUS IV BRIDGE 13.75
STEVE DAVIS SNOOKER - superb ! .... 1 1.75
CLASSIC GAMES 4 - COMPILATION ...17.75
CALLERS WELCOME BUT STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT PLEASE.
If you see anything we sell being sold cheaper elsewhere phone us before you buy -
Office open 9a.m to 5p.m. MONDAY TO FRIDAY.
U.K. Buyers just pay the price you see ! PO STAG E. & VAT A RE INCLUDED.
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Chequea/P.O/a payable to "W.B.B.S." - PLEASE STATE YOUR NEEDS EXACTLY
GOVT. DEPTs / LOCAL & EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITY ORDERS ARE WELCOME.
NEWS PLUS
advance. The person to contact for
booking information is:
Roger Stangroom
11 Barwell Way
Witham
Essex CM8 2TY
Tel. 0376 517496
As well buying goodies attendees
will be able to find out more about
the group and even join up. The
famous disc copying service will be
available on site as will a bar.
More information about this
even can be found on the CP/M
Group's bulletin board (0753
868196).
Dave the disk
Those discs don't die in vain.
Dave's Disk Doctor Service Ltd, a
registered company whose entire
profit is covenanted to BACUP, a
cancer charity. Dave Smith is the
company director and works for it in
his spare time (now almost non-
existent) salvaging damaged discs.
In the first four months of trading
the company's income was £3200
with a further £900 outstanding
(mainly from larger companies).
Against this total they have
offset £700 of startup costs
DAV6 SMITH
PISC REPAIR
SERVICE.
(including a
PCW, naturally)
and a further
£700 of running
expenses. The
only other major
cost will be the
end of year
auditor's fee of
around £400. As
soon as they
have the " h/wa . . . Thi«7 otii coialp &e ypiavf . . .
requisite forms from the Inland Dave is looking for local help,
revenue BACUP stand to benefit someone who can be trained to do
by several thousand pounds. the disc salvage work - and ^^^
Because of the volume of work even paid a small wage. )_"^^*
CLUB
If you run a club, a special interest group or a bulletin board
dedicated to PCW owning and using, that involves the PCW - or
just because you want to get into Club News, why not write in and
tell us all about it? Whether you're dedicated to voluntary work,
leisure, or you're trying to make a living, if PCW owners need to
know about it then tell us first and we'll pass the information on.
All missives to Club News, 4 Queen St. Bath, BA1 1EJ
No secret
Adventurers everywhere have forced
Official Secrets, the club for dedicated
(fanatic, frantic?) adventurers, to take on
another member of staff. Since this is the
only source of the Magnetic Scrolls game
Myth (yes, it's for the PCW) some slight
show of interest was inevitable. Best of
luck to John Knight, the man in quest-ion
(groan). Contact them by taking the bus,
going North and banging on the door. Or
else try ringing 0279 726541 .
Southern drawl
The South Bank Computer Club is on
the south bank - of the River Tees.
They currently have around forty
members and meet every Tuesday
from 6.30 PM at the Neighbourhood
Centre, 7 South Bank, Cleveland,
where you will often find their
treasurer. John Chilvers.
The club aims to support all
computer users but since John
himself uses an 8512 (LocoScript,
Mini Office and Stop Press to handle
correspondence, accounts and
newsletters) PCW owners can be
sure of a very positive reception.
Subscriptions are £7 a year or 20p
per week and if you would like to know any
more you can contact John by post at 4
Cranford Avenue, South Bank,
Middlesbrough, Cleveland. TS6 0AU.
Round and round
That M25 Club (alright, the Middlesex
PCW Club) really know how to make sure
they get a mention. They keep sending in
pictures. Of course, if they actually gave us
a little information as well we'd give them
even more space.
Tony Brown tells us that there's a new
club night on September 25th before the
normal meeting on the 1 9th September.
For more information contact him on 01
841 3666 (after 6.30 PM).
Across the water
It looks like 8000 Plus is about to make an
American connection. We've been visited
by Peter Little, of Monterey, California.
He's currently working with the PCW SIG
in California (SIG stands for Special
Interest Group). As with all things
American it's big. This group currently
Peter little should soon be keeping us posted on the
PCW scene in deepesl California.
, it's Ihose heroes ot Ihe M25, braving some ol the longesl
jams in England to get to the meet.
boasts around 550 members and through
a commercial company are looking to
import your favourite PCW magazine.
Naturally we wish them the best of luck.
Peter arranged to send us contact
details for the SIG on his return from his
British visit as well as an update on the
state of PCW interest in the USA but we
haven't had either of them yet (he's only
just left the UK as we write this). As soon
as we get them you'll know all about it.
Allsorts
Hampshire PCW User's Group Peter
Bassert tells us that the club have
purchased an 8256 which is available as a
loan machine to members for a nominal
fee. Just the kind of insurance you need to
avoid those months long repair delays.
The next major meets are on
September 5th which will be a LocoFile
and database session followed by October
4th which will concentrate on public
domain software. Be there or be
somewhere else. Details from Peter on
0252 548660 after 6 PM.
September 89 8000 PLUS 7
NEWS PLUS
This will enable the total volume ot
disc salvage work to be increased
considerably.
To use the service, and before
sending any discs, potential
customers should telephone Dave
on 089 283 5974. Discs should be
sent in a Jiffy bag with return
postage and a spare formatted
disc. Just to prove he has more
business than he can handle
returned discs include a factsheet
on disc care and backup
procedures.
Regarding reviews
We report the news but sometimes
we generate it as well. After 8000
Plus's review of the Investor
program (issue 34) from B&BB
Software our expert reviewer's
comments have been taken into
account. The program's author
has now upgraded Investor to
handle capital gains and dealing
costs. An upgrade for existing
users is available from B&BB
Software. Send £5 to cover the
cost of disc, postage and
packaging and quote your
registration number. .
The hard one
Cirtech (UK) Ltd have launched a
new hard disk for the PCW range
of machines. The new hard disk is
called the Diamond and sounds
impressive. Two sizes, 32 and 48
megabyte versions are available, it
comes with the computer industry
standard XT3.9 SCSI interface (it
says here) and includes 28
millisecond average access time
(which is very fast) and automatic
head parking. The hard disc can be
attached to any other computer
with a SCSI interface including the
Mac (which has one built in).
Perhaps more impressive is that
the interface allows several PCWs
to share single hard disc. Up to
seven PCWs can a share a single
hard disc with two areas each
Strange but true
Do you own a 1975 red Ford Escort with every possible bolt on goody?
Are you looking for fresh challenges? Then talk to Isenstein, King Of
The Customisers. who can do things to your PCW that you never
thought possible.
Latest from their workshops in remotest Wales is the Black Stripe,
for the design conscious PCW owner who wants to stand out from the
crowd - not to mention burning up those words. The Black Stripe
comes with a single three inch disc drive, a thirty megabyte hard disc,
one megabyte of RAM, a 9512 style keyboard and a 24 pin printer all
in a PCW style case all as standard.
We actually had an incomplete prototype of this this working in the
8000 Plus office, and no, you don't get a crick in the neck trying to read
the screen, the letters still go across it (though they are slightly
stretched vertically). Ours lacked the internal hard disc and 24 pin
printer. When we get a fully working review machine we'll tell you more
- like the price.
The PCW lor the person who just can't bear to be a part ol the herd. Yes, it was once an 8512
which will act as drives A and B.
Does this mean you can boot up
from them? We will find out.
Prices from £465 + VAT.
Contact Cirtech on 0896 57790
Laid bare
Well, more a case of uncovered
really. If you buy additional
insurance cover on your PCW.
especially trom Cornhill via Currys,
check what equipement they are
actually insuring .
Mr J Noon, of Bury found that
his policy specifically excluded the
PCW printer. Cornhill offered no
reason for this beyond saying that
they can exclude what they like.
working part of the PCW they feel
it's the part most likely to fail It
seems to us to rather negate the
point ol insurance.
Hara discs are a great piece ol kit to use but they definitely lack visual e»citment.
Answer to dingbyte:
Turtle Graphics
SNIPPETS
Prize guys
A £500 video camera is being
given away by Database to the
purchaser of the 500,000th Mini
Office package. Mini Office is
available on the PCW, PC Atari ST,
Atari XL, Amstrad CPC, BBC,
Spectrum, Electron and
Commodore 64 so there's no
guarantee it will be a PCW owner
who wins.
According to Chris Payne of
Database they have sent out 200
Mini Office packs with a special
registration card (during August),
one of which will be the lucky
winner. II they tell us who won then
we'll tell you.
Little squirt
Epson have released two new 24
nozzle ink jet printers - the 80
column SQ850 and the 132 column
SQ2550.They're fast - 600 cps in
draft, they're very quiet and you
can't afford them. Models start at
£899. For more information contact
your nearest computer dealer.
Ink jet printers, quiet, last and very expensive
Porta-disc
The Ranger is a disc drive for your
Z88. it's PC compatible as well and
it costs an astonishing £450. Made
by Ranger Computers who will tell
you more if you telephone them on
0604 791064.
A disc drive lor your Z88 that's twice the size
and twice the price ol your portable.
No cigar
Almost everyone got the answer to
the mystery photo in the Tempdisc
competition correct. In fact the only
one we came across that was
wrong suggested it was really the
top of a talcum powder tin. No
names, no pack drill.
September 89 8000 PLUS 8
L
■ AT* TMILEY
Ckanprinl Kil PCW8256/85I2 £14.74
Refill Kil PCW8256/85I2 £7.50
Cone 10 £5.37
Prestige Pka 10 £5J7
Recta 10 £5J7
Oralor 10 £5.37
later Gothic £5.37
Prestige Dkt 12 £5.37
Scripl 12 15..17
Mini Gothic 15 £5J7
Thesis l"S £5.37
PCW95I2 Printwherl Cleaning k,i £6.95
VII FILTERS
I VmkikxI specially for Ihc
Amstrad PCW 8256/8512/
PCW 9512
lICIICIlrT MMUr Itr
pcwim/m* iii pcwiiit
I-ncoScripl 2 C2I.70
l,ocoScrlpt 2 with liicoSpcll £30.35
laicoMail £26,04
lACoSppll (for use with l,ocoScript 2) £17.35
l.ocuFonl £17 JS
i«onie Panama 06.04
I ....I i|. PCW95L2 £24.04
24 Pin Printer Drivers Disk £21.70
pcw Timtum
CASE
PCW8256/85I2
Dc Luxe Travelling CM ...
£39.95
CIMPITEI TIAHIIMt CIIIIEI
Course* consist oi two audio cassette tapes, software disk and
uw instructions
Complete Inlroduclion la PCW'9512/l.ocoScript 2 EMM
Complete Intro, lo It WX256 8512 UniScript I £29.95
Complete fatro. lo PCW8256/85I2 l/ico-Script 2 £29,95
Complete Intro, lo CP/M Computing on Ihe PCW .... £29.95
SuperCak 2 on Ihe PCW £29.95
■BASE II on ihe PCW £29.95
SINSIE SHEET 1ICATII Ml ALIGNER
MAXAEIT
SuKaNe Tor AMSTRAD
PCW95I2. DMP2000/3I60
DMT 4000. LQJ50075000di
and nvrj other PC primers.
MAitm jim
for PCW8256/85I2 primers.
^
Mavafil .... £29.95
fllrllEI
MIEflEI
Al least 80* noise
reduction
Optional Sland lor 80
column Hood provides
storage for paper.
Margin Maker
80 Col Hood £69.011
Stand Tor 80 Col Hood £21.00
MIIIE Ml
£4.95
MIIIE HUE
£3.95
gjlfjfjjj CHILE!
Printer & Power Cabin PCW8254/8512 II metre per cable)
£16.04
Prinler Cable onrj PCW9512 12 metres! £13.00
CIPTIILIEI
New Universal TTiingi copyholder with rotating pivot will fit to
cither the right or left hand side of your computer. WP. etc..
with the fining supplied
Universal iiiin^i Copyholder £n.W
IISTCIVEI IETI "HE
PCW 8256*512 3 piece f IITECIIII
I9,n " Safeguard your Equipment
PCW 9512 3 piece ... £9.14 from power surges/spiko
DMP 4000 1 piece .... £5.00 Plug £| 4 22
DMP 20O0'30O0 1 piece 3 Way-Adaptor £18.25
£4.25 4 Gang-Adaptor 114.90
JUST TOTAL YOUR
PURCHASES AND
ADD DELIVERY
AND f5H VAT
ALL PRICES EXCLUDE V.A.T. & DELIVERY E. & O.E. «*££ *.
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POST:-
Simply list your order, name and
address, enclose a cheque or postal
order (made payable to 'SBS
Computer Supplies') or your credit
details to the lull address below.
mainland only. Supplies: 1 item = £1.95: 2
items m £2.50: 3 items (& over) = £3.00.
2. Courier delivery only lor computers, printers and
lumiture = £7.50 per item.
3. Overseas delivenes — £3.00 handling charge
plus 12.5% insurance and postage — VAT
exempt.
SBS COMPUTER SUPPLIES LTD. FREEPOST (BR 332) DEPT . 31 1. PORTSLADE, BRIGHTON BN41 1ZZ
FEATURE
LET THE TRAIN T
Steve Patient used to think that Dorking was a medie
LocoScript is one of the best-selling word processors ot
all time, and the company responsible for writing it,
Locomotive Software, aren't resting on their laurels.
We went visiting at the company home in Dorking,
deepest Surrey, to find out a little more about the people
behind the name.
For a company that has such a huge influence on the
working habits of more than a million people, they are very
unassuming, being located in relatively small premises off
Dorking High Street. In its short life Locomotive has grown to 26
employees and is now running out of room; watch out for a move
to new premises in the near future.
Locomotive began life in March 1 983. the brainchild of
programmer Chris Hall. Along with almost all of the current
programming staff at Locomotive, he once worked for a
company called Data Recall, who. oddly enough, made
dedicated word processing computers built around the Z80
microprocessor. Of course these were a great deal more
expensive than a PCW (and sported bigger discs - the eight
inch variety).
At that time, Chris Hall was their chief programmer and so
knew a thing or two about word processors himself. For various
reasons too libellous to go into here, he left Data Recall when it
was taken over - and watched it subsequently go into a steep
decline and eventually into liquidation.
Locomotive, as he originally envisaged it, was to supply
software solutions to manufacturers of computing equipment and
was not intended to be the kind of company that dealt direct with
the public. When Amstrad approached them for help with the
CPC 464, all that was to change.
Pre-release
As has gone down in the history books, Amstrad originally
designed the CPC 464 with a 6502 microprocessor, at which
point it all went wrong. Locomotive were called in to provide
Clins Ha!l is the Managing Director ol locomotive Soltw
er ol LocoSciini
1O8O0OPLUSseplembe<69
Howard Fisher is Commercial Director ol Locomotive Sotlwaie
and is me man behind all that (good) 3dvlce to Buy LocoSciipt 2.
LocoMaO and LocoFile. You can meet him on the Locomotive
stand at the PC Show in September and listen to nun •
Howard Fisher - Commercial Director
No one at Locomotive
Software has a higher
profile than Howard
Fisher, who is positively
evangelical in his enthusiasm
for his company's products,
especially LocoScript and its
sister programs. We asked him
exactly what his responsibilities
were. "I'm really in charge of
everything that isn't pro-
gramming," he replied. "That
includes product development,
sales, promotion and almost
anything else that no one else
wants to do."
Howard Fisher came to
Locomotive from Acorn (who
built the BBC Micro) soon
after its inception. How much
of Locomotive's success did
he attribute to the PCW range
of machines? "Locomotive
originally intended to operate as
'backroom boys', rather than
dealing directly with the public, but when the opportunity presented itself we
took it. If it hadn't been LocoScript and the PCW then it would have been
something else."
We asked Howard if he had any idea that the PCW would sell so well when he
joined the company. "I'd been trying to persuade Acorn to do something similar
before joining Locomotive, so naturally I had confidence in it. My belief in the
PCW was one of the reasons why I joined Locomotive."
There have been various stories about the original Amstrad brief for the PCW,
notably that Amstrad's vision of it wasn't quite the same as the final product. In
fact we have heard that Amstrad envisaged something more like an electronic
typewriter. "No comment; that's what our contract with Amstrad says we have to
say. Seriously, the original brief is privileged information and I just can't say
anything about it at all."
Locomotive obviously dominate the PCW software market; we wondered if the
company felt any obligation to help other suppliers of hardware or software. "We
look at every commercial enquiry individually. As software consultants, we're
always willing to consider any offer of work. However, where we feel a product
complements ours, doesn't compete and will promote our own products, we will
usually try to be helpful. For example, if anyone wants to add hard discs, or other
hardware, to the PCW which needs to work with LocoScript we will supply
skeleton code for them to flesh out."
The PCW has been phenomenally successful for four years now; we asked
how long it could continue. "I see no reason why it shouldn't still be selling in the
late nineties. Amstrad have stated that as long as they're selling at least 50,000
units of something a year, they'll carry on making it."
Since LocoScript is such a successful product we wondered if Locomotive
were working on versions of LocoScript for any other computers - the PC for
example. "Locomotive have a policy of not pre-announcing products. Even if we
were working on any such product we would make no comment until we knew
when it would be ready for sale. It's true that a lot of people have asked us if
we're going to bring out LocoScript for the PC."
We asked what aspect of LocoScript Locomotive are least happy about?
"Direct printing," says Howard. "We never wanted to include it." And what are
they most proud of? "That everything works the way you would expect it to."
AKE THE STRAIN
,al punishment until he visited Locomotive Software
.^
RrtBfd Clayton is TedmcM Director ai Locomotive S
and literally Knows LocoScripl nude oui He should, sines he
bu.ll n. By Hie same loKen. though, he s always looking for
Richard Clayton - Technical Director
Some people look the part,
and some don't; Richard
Clayton doesn't, yet he
was a founder member ot
Locomotive. The first thing to
find out was exactly what it is
he does. "Chris designs it; I
build it," he told us laconically.
In fact Richard Clayton has
been responsible for building
every piece of software to come
out of Locomotive; of which
LocoScript is the most
ambitious. We wondered why,
with CP/M based computers
having been around for nearly
twenty years, it had taken so
long to come up with a word
processor as comprehensive as
LocoScript. "LocoScript doesn't
run under CP/M, and there
were dedicated 280 word
processors years ago, but they
cost ten times as much as the
PCW does now. LocoScript
was written by programmers familiar with the problems involved in writing
dedicated word processors."
What particular differences did that make in the way he approached
LocoScript? "We knew what we required from the hardware. The ninety column
screen, the Ram drive and the way the screen works are some of the things we
ordered from MEJ Electronics and which subsequently appeared on the PCW."
So the odd way the screen is mapped is Locomotive's doing? "Yes, it allows
us to write a character much more quickly."
How long does it take to write something as complex as LocoScript? "If you
know what you're doing it takes between three and four man years."
A lot of people would like to know why LocoScript 2 is so much faster than
LocoScript 1 . "We added a lot to LocoScript 2 but had to take one thing away for
speed. LocoScript 2 is paged, which the earlier version wasn't; LocoScript 2 just
checks that the current page is formatted. This has certain repercussions, for
example, if you had a fifty page LocoScript 1 document with a special layout for
quotes, then changing that layout on page 50 would make the program scroll all
the way to the beginning looking for quotes to alter throughout the document;
LocoScript 2 won't do that; there's always a trade-off."
LocoScript now has LocoMail, LocoFile and a variety of smaller support
programs. We asked if Locomotive considered it a fully-developed product.
"We're up to versions 2.28 and 2.29 for the 8000 and 9000 machines
respectively; I don't see those being the final versions."
Do you do your programming on a PCW? "We program in Assembler. When
we started we used a PC with a cross Assembler and a Z80 board fitted. We
use our own Assembler. It will do things that simply can't be done on any others."
Is there any intention of extending LocoScript across a range of machines?
"You have to remember that LocoScript is wedded to the PCW more tightly than
any CP/M program. It has complete control of the PCW and can do what it likes."
We wanted to know if that meant it wouldn't happen. "I'm not saying."
Which part of the program was Richard the least happy about? "Direct
printing, which is why it isn't made more of in the program. It doesn't fit in with
the way LocoScript works and I never wanted it to be there. Amstrad insisted."
What, in the LocoScript environment, are you most proud of? "The way
everything does exactly what it should."
FEATURE
advice, and promptly advised Amstrad to throw away the board
and start again. They recommended MEJ Electronics (also
founded by people from the late Data Recall) to redesign the circuit
board around the Z80 chip.
Locomotive supplied the Basic for the CPC and the whole
machine went on to set Amstrad on the road to financial greatness.
When the time came to design the PCW machine, Amstrad
naturally approached Locomotive and MEJ for the goods. Whatever
the initial brief for the PCW 8256, and it looks as though we will
never know for sure, Locomotive succeeded in producing the
cheapest, and one of the best, dedicated word processing systems
ever seen, and the first one for the mass market.
The fact that the PCW also came with CP/M - Amstrad wanted
it to be more than a word processor - and one of the fastest Basics
available, was a big bonus. Mallard Basic is also a Locomotive
product, and a very sophisticated one, incorporating as it does the
JETSAM features, which as everyone knows is an ISAM filing
method (Indexed Sequential Access Method of filing).
Software with the complexity of Mallard, and even more so
LocoScript, aren't just thrown together. Like a car they have to be
designed. There are several different areas that have to be
considered. From the users' point of view the two important points
are how it looks and how it works, and these make sensible starting
points for anyone designing any piece of software.
How it appears
How it appears to work obviously affects how it actually works
internally. Locomotive were in the happy position of having some
say in the design of the hardware that would run their program and
worked closely with MEJ Electronics so that the hardware and the
software could be put together at the same time. It was this
simultaneous gestation that made the PCW such a a well-integrated
word processing computer.
The resulting computer was thus a very unusual one when it
appeared. Here was a machine that could do both a very complex
job and yet could be grasped and operated by completely non
technically trained people in just a few minutes. In many ways this
astonishing achievement has been taken for granted, itself
a tribute to the work Locomotive did at the design stage.
FEATURE
The man who has to take most of the credit for this
achievement is Chris Hall, the Managing Director and Software
Designer for Locomotive. All of this makes it rather interesting
that Chris Hall still appears to think of himself as a programmer.
Those who really do the programming these days work in a
large open-plan office among more than a dozen networked PCs
connected up to an 85 megabyte file server. Each programmer is
generally given responsibility for some particular section of
the program while Richard Clayton co-ordinates everything; (or
example, during the programming of LocoScript one programmer
might be working on the Disc Management Screen code while
another works on the code that drives the printer.
All this disparate activity is co-ordinated by the Technical
Director, Richard Clayton, who also works on the programming.
It's his job to ensure that all the various parts of the program
work together, fit into the memory, and behave as they're
supposed to.
Helpline
For a company that never intended to deal directly with the
public, Locomotive have earned an enviable reputation for
product support, an example a few others could look to. They will
respond to all written enquiries and have a sophisticated system
for keeping track of them (filing cabinets full of carefully indexed
letters from occasionally bemused customers). The enquiries are
cross-indexed to the replies and the whole shebang is recorded
using LocoFile. Considering their workload, the customer
support department showed a remarkably high level of morale.
Leaving these Myrmidons of the customer support
department we visited Howard Fisher's domain in marketing (it
was interesting to note that Howard Fisher keeps all his phone
numbers and contact names on a PCW running LocoFile.) One
of the more recent ploys here has been a mail shot to PCW
owners. One of the problems for Locomotive is that they don't
actually know who has PCWs, so like other companies who
would like to sell upgrades or new products to complement the
existing ones they buy lists from companies who sell them.
Unfortunately, like software, when you buy a list you don't
own it, merely get the use of it; in fact you don't even get to see
it. What you do is supply material for the mailshot and stand
back. If you were one of those on the end of that mailshot then
you got an invitation to a free draw. Whether you bought
something or not, simply returning the form gave you the chance
to win one of a 100 boxes of Maxell discs, a thousand discs in
all. So, as a neutral party, we got to draw a hundred names of
lucky winners. It takes a surprisingly long time to do.
The final call was to the domain of Jean Gilmour, where the
work of documentation goes on. At last we were on familiar
ground again with Macs everywhere. Like most other people
who have to produce a lot of paper for publication, including the
very advertisements they place in 8000 Plus, Locomotive use a
Mac and LaserWriter for fast, high quality, results. On leaving
there we were in time to see a hapless minion being instructed
to write to the hundred winners and send them their prizes.
Never mind, we were off to the pub. ■
Jane Packer is responsible lor the customer support department. She makes 3UC
those technical queries are answered and uses LocoFile to Keep Ira
Jean Gilmour - Senior Technical Writer
he person every
T
Jean Gilmnur is Ihe one who writes all those thick manuals that
come out o! Locomotive Software It seems Ihe route to technical
wnting is via an editor's |00; very interesting. Paeans ol praise
should be sent direct to tier
PCW
owner knows best at
Loco-motive is Jean
Gilmour, who wrote the
manuals you either love or hate
but can't get along without.
Naturally we asked if anyone else
had a hand in them. "Not Ihe
Locoscript 1 and 2 manuals
which were all my own work. I
have overall responsibility tor
writing all of the manuals and
virtually all other documentation
for Locomotive, if you're reading
it then I probably wrote it."
Considering some of the things
said about the LocoScript 1
manual, we wondered if Jean
Gilmour had written manuals
before working for Locomotive. "I
started off writing for Physics
Bulletin, published by the Institute
of Physics in Bristol: later I was
editor of Radio and Electronics
World before escaping to work
as a reporter and features writer for Electronics Times. I enjoyed that but then
Locomotive made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
Many 8256 owners found the LocoScript manual hard to cope with. Had she
been aware that for most PCW owners LocoScript and its manual would be their
first brush with computers and software? "Yes. I was very aware of the fact. I think
the main problem was having to finish the manual before the software was ready.
By the time the software was finished, the two no longer matched very well. There
were many things about that first manual that I was unhappy with."
The manuals following the first one seemed much better. What was the reason
for that? "Simply that I had a chance to become much more familiar with the
software, and to write a manual you need to know more than goes in the finished
book. Also, we went from pasting up the manuals from galleys to preparing them
on a Mac and producing camera-ready copy on a laserwriter. This means that we
can alter things right up until the last minute."
The various manuals are written in quite different styles. Is there any
particular reason for that? "The LocoScript 1 manual really didn't work so it
seemed sensible to try a different approach. Writing the manual as a series of
very short tutorials proved much easier for people to use."
Clearly there is as much text in a LocoScript manual as a short novel, we
wondered how long it takes to write a software manual. "As much time as is
available. You can never have enough time. To give you an example the
LocoScript 2 manual took me five months but the original Locofile manual, which
was an easier piece of software to use, and to explain, took only four weeks. Mind
you, the LocoFile manual had already been started by someone else but even so
it was only done so fast because there was a lot of pressure on to finish it; I hope
I never have to do one as fast as that again."
Who prepares the brief for the manuals? "I do, though everyone is
involved. As I learn the software I might say to Richard that something isn't
quite right about the way it works, and if he agrees, it will be changed. Then
Chris, Richard or Howard might mention that something needs a bit more
explanation, so I have to explain a bit more. In the end, no manual goes out if I
'm unhappy with it."
What's the most important thing in a manual? "The index, of which ours are
very good. Most of the queries we get can be answered just by going to the index
in the relevant manual."
A technical manual is quite a different piece of writing from a work of fiction,
and a much more sustained effort than a magazine feature. We wondered what
Jean Gilmour liked least about the manuals she's written. "People not reading
them, asking questions that I know I've explained and indexed."
What does she like most about them. "Knowing that I've done the best I could
gives me a definite feeling of satisfaction." It was at this point that Howard
mentioned being a million-selling author, and we have to agree that that must
count for something.
12 8000 PLUS September
Software Stop-off
DcoScrlpt - the family
LocoScript has become such an extended lamily that it's
worth having a little biopsy of each product to hand, and
here it is.
The version numbers supplied here are the latest
available, the first for the 8000 machines and the second
for the 9000 series.
LocoScript »1 V1.20
This is the basic LocoScript word processor that comes
free with the 8000 machines. If you have an earlier
version Amstrad will upgrade it for free if you return your
master disc.
LocoScript 2 • v2.28 and 2.29 • £24.95
The major upgrade to LocoScript 1 . Comes free with the
9512 but you have to buy it for the 8000 series. Amstrad
get the latest versions as Locomotive improve the product
but even though Amstrad have the latest version you
probably won't get that with your PCW 951 2.
LocoMail • v2.28 and 2.29 • £29.95
The first major add-on for LocoScript. 9512 owners get it
free but they don't get the manual which can, however, be
bought from Locomotive for £14.95. LocoMail adds
mailmerging and programming features to LocoScript.
8000 series owners with LocoScript 2 get their whole
system automatically upgraded to version 2.28 when
they buy this.
LocoFile • V2.28 and 2.29 • £29.95
LocoFile is an integrated database for LocoScript 2 and
installing it upgrades your whole system to the latest
version. To get the most out of it you need LocoMail.
There is now a much improved ring-bound LocoFile
manual update which can be bought for £5.95 providing
you submit with your request the back cover of your
original manual (pre December 88).
LocoSpell • V2.28 and 2.29 • £19.95
The spellchecker for LocoScript 2 users. It now boasts
several new features including improved handling of the
User Dictionary. It is also one of the cheapest ways to
both upgrade to the latest version of LocoScript 2 and
gain a new piece of software.
LocoFont* V2.28 and 2.29 • £19.95 and £14.95
This product comes in two parts, set 1 and set 2 oddly
enough, and gives you a variety of extra typestyles on the
8000 series machines. Unlike Supertype, LocoFont works
with not just the English characters but also the European,
Greek and Cyrillic characters. Like all other LocoScript 2
products, this is distributed with the installation program
to upgrade your system.
LocoFont 24 • 8000 and 9000 series • £24.95
This 'S the software that allows owners of 24 pin printers
to use a wide variety of fonts on any PCW. Again there
are two sets of discs, both of which contain five fonts. To
use LocoFont 24 you will need the 24 pin printer disc.
Printer drivers • v2.28 and 2.29 • £19.95
Locomotive now supply drivers for more than 320 different
printers including various laser printers. If you're running
a new dot matrix printer on either the 8000 or 9000
machines then this disc will allow you to get the most
out of it. It includes the Charkit program to redefine up to
16 characters as well as a program to build your own
irinter driver.
24 pin printer drivers • v2.28 and 2.29 • £24.95
This disc contains software that allows the PCW machines
to drive a 24 pin printer as if it were the built in dot matrix
printer: which is to say that it gives the PCW total control.
Ring Locomotive if you're unsure whether or not your 24 pin
printer is supported, new ones are being added all the time.
Print wheels disc • 9000 series* £14.95
This disc allows 9512 owners to use non-English daisy
wheels. There are currently 12 different daisy wheels
supported. Also on the disc is a program which gives you
the facility to create your own print wheel drivers. A must
for anyone who needs to use a European daisy wheel.
Note that you don't need it for the Thesis PS wheel which
is already supported.
Keyboards disc • v2.28 and 2.29 • £19.95
This is a fun disc, though it has its serious side too. You
can use this to customise your keyboard; change it to the
Dvorak layout, or a French Azerty style. It will also allow
you to customise your system so that when everything
loads from the Start of Day disc your name, or whatever,
comes up on screen.
Upgrade disc • v2.28 and 2.29 • £14.95
This was made available by popular demand and will
upgrade LocoScript 2, LocoMail, LocoFile and LocoSpell
to the latest version of the software. Instead of this you
could buy a LocoFont disc or something similar and get
upgraded as well for free.
Euro Arabic • 8000 and 9000 series • £85
We haven't reviewed this yet but it allows you to write
Urdu, Arabic and Farsi on the PCW from right to left as
well as European languages from left to right. It needs a
keyboard dongle to work and you lose the Greek and
Cyrillic character sets. It works out at several thousand
pounds cheaper than the next comparable system.
LocoMail example disc • £5
For anyone who ever had any trouble getting started.
Manuals
All of the manuals that come with Locomotive products
can be bought separately. Ring Locomotive for details,
ordering details.
r
Is this the most important person at Locomotive? Linda Haynes is the
Office Manager and makes sure things run efficiently.
FEATURE
Remarkable
We couldn't help noticing an
extraordinary resemblance
between Chris Hall and another
lamous programmer. Gary Kildall
(see issue 31 ), though Chhs Hall
does look a lot younger. Is this an
attempt to invoke sympathetic
magic? Locomotive racked up a
repectable £1.25 million turnover
last year, a little short ot Digital
Research's figures but then,
Locomotive haven't been at it
lor so long.
Training
Many people have wondered why
Locomotive? Why not Chhs Hall
Consultancy, or CHC pic? Well it
all goes back to one of those old
programmers' sayings. 'Software
is either a train or a drain"
meaning that It either goes very
fast or very slowly.
Chris Hall likes his software
to run fast hence Locomotive, and
their Basic is very last hence
Mallard, the steam train with the
wont) record for the quarter mile -
1 26 mph hauling 240 tons on 3rd
July 1938. And LocoScript 1? The
explanation is that considering
how much it does, it does it fast.
Outside interests
Among their other sales
Locomotive have written the Basic
in both the Husky and the
Microscribe handheld computers.
They did the Husky first, then
improved the Basic to make it
even faster and sold it for the
Microscribe and then sold a
further improved version to Husky.
This process is one of the reasons
why software houses should seek
to improve on their products.
Tongue twisters
LccoScr.pt has been fully
translated for a variety of
languages, but do you realise just
how many there are now? There
are full translations, including all
menus, error messages and
documentation for German,
Spanish, French, Italian, Danish,
Swedish, Portuguese and Welsh.
There are also vananis for
Canada. Norway and Finland not
lo mention the special Far East
versions now appearing.
September 89 8000 PLUS 13
BREAK THE PCW MEMORY BARRIER
WITH THE NEW 512K RAMDRIVE CARD
<k?f*L*
^itn'fr
THE 512K RAMDRIVE CARD:-
FITTING THE 512k RAMDRIVE CARD
YOURSELF:-
Jusi simply follow our step by step instructions which allows you to
expand your PCWs memory by attaching the 512k RAMDRIVE
CARD to the main computer board inside your PCW.
ONLY £98.95
WE FIT THE 512k RAMDRIVE
CARD FOR YOU:-
The simplest method is to unplug your main
computer board and send it to us and wcwill
fit a 512k RAMDRIVE CARD to it for you
and then send it back to you. Data sheet
available for this on request.
ONLY £98.95 Plus £10.00
fitting charge.
We can send you a new PCW computer board
(Please slate which PCW type) with the new
512k RAMDRIVE CARD fitted. If you send
your old PCW computer board back we will
refund the board cost.
ONLY £98.95 Plus £10.00
fitting charge and purchase
cost of pcb.
THE EASIEST OPTION:-
Scnd us your PCW monitor under our bronze
or silver repair service and we will fit the 512k
RAMDRIVE CARD for you.
£98.95 Plus Minimum Cost
Of the Monitor Repair Service.
NEW
FITS ALL
AMSTRAD PCWs
Our new 512k RAMDRIVE CARD adds an extra 512k of memory to your Locoscnpt 2 or CP/M
Memory Disk Drive this means PCW8512 and PCW9512 owners get a massive 880k Dnvc M: where
as at a flick of a switch on the RAMDRIVE PCW8256 owners get a mere 624k Drive M:.
New software is coming on to the market daily i.e.: Locofile. Printer Fonts and Drivers that all eat
up vital computer me nory. With the 512k RAMDRIVE fitted you can have a Thesaurus and
Dictionary all loaded in Drive M: and still be able to copy a disk.
Wliy Not
Buy a NEW
Amstrad
PCW with
the 512k
RAMDRIVE
Fitted?
NEW AMSTRAD PCW'S WITH 5I2K RAMDRIVE,:-
New PCW8256 with 512k Ramdrive fitted £399.00
New PCW8512 with 5I2k Ramdrive fitted £499.00
New PCW9512 with 512k Ramdrive fitted £549.00
New PCW8256 Monitor Only with 512k Ramdrive £205.00
New PCW8512 Monitor Only with 512k Ramdrive £312.00
New PCW9512 Monitor Only with 512k Ramdrive £334.00
Each 512k RAMDRIVE CARD comes complete with comprehensive
fitting and operating instructions and a utility disk which contains a
memory check, the ability to alter Drive M: to differences & more.!
Please Add VAT to all prices
Offical / Trade / Government Orders Welcome.
All prices are correct at date of going to press.
OUR POPULAR FIX-A-STRAD SERVICE
SPEEDY PCW REPAIR :- PHONE 0244 822768 NOW!
YOUR PCW Repaired
in 4,6 or 8 Days!
We Repair
PCW
Printers Too!
BRONZE SERVICE (Back in 8 Working Days)
II YOU PAY FOR DISPATCH AND COLLECTION.
2 WE REPAIR YOUR FAULTY PCW ITEM WITHIN OUR MIN-MAX CHARGE, (below)
3) WE GIVE YOU A FURTHER 10% DISCOUNT OFF OUR ADVERTISED COSTS
SILVER SERVICE (Back in 6 Working Days)
1) YOU SEND US THE FAULTY PCW ITEM FOR REPAIR AT YOUR COST
2 WE FIX IT WITHIN OUR MIN-MAX CHARGES, (see charges below)
3) WE SEND IT REPAIRED BACK TO YOU VIA OUR COURIER.
GOLD SERVICE (Back in 4 Working Days)
1) WE ARRANGE COURIER COLLECTION AT OUR COST.
2 WE REPAIR AND TEST THE FAULTY ITEM.
3 WE SEND IT BACK TO YOU VIA COURIER.
1) FOR GOLD SERVICE YOU PAY ONLY THE MAXIMUM CHARGE (see below)
This sen/ice Is open lo Access/Mastercard Card holders only.
PCW REPAIR
Faulty PCWB256/512 Keyboard
Faulty PCW9512 Keyboard £15.00 £95.00
Faulty PCW8256/512 Printer £18.00 £80 00
Faulty PCW9512 Printer £25.00 £1 15 00
Faulty PCWB256/512 Monitor „ £30.00 £150.00
Faulty PCW9512 Monitor „„ £30.00 £150.00
Faulty I Don't Know what II is? (sending you the loll) £50.00 „„ ElBs'oo
Note:- For Bronze and Silver Seivice, Please send paymenl for our minimum charge our
Engineer will intorm you of the exact repair cost before dispatch
Min Charge Max Charge
.£15.00 £65.00
NEW ACOUSTIC HOOD THAT CAN TAKE THE
ASF9512 SHEET FEEDER
Do you know that
there is new
Amstrad sheet
feeder for your
PCW951 2 printer. Its
brilliant! but what's
even better is if you
have one of our
acoustic hoods we
have designed a
new lid accessory to
suit the sheet feeder
which can be fitted
in seconds! Simply
fits on to our
standard hood.
NEW FOR THE ASF9512
THE PCW 9512 ACOUSTIC HOOD
AS9501 (PCW9512 Acoustic Hood Flat Pack) £37.95 -t-vat
AS9502 (PCW9512 Acoustic Hood Ready Made) £45.95 + vat
AS9503 (PCW9512 Sheet Feed Lid Extension) .£18.95 +val
This Professionally moulded PVC padded Acoustic hood is designed
to reduce the noise of your PCW9512 Printer. As well as match your
PCW. It comes in two formats. Flat Pack "See 8000 PLUS December
1987" and Ready made for those without a screwdriver!.
THE D.I.Y. PCW SPARE PARTS DEPOT
We stock every PCW parti ....just some below:-
COMPLETE AMSTRAD PCW PARTS:-
ORDER DESCRIPTION PURCHASE
CODE PRICE
271000 PCW8256/512 Complete Working Keyboard £115.00
277000 PCW9512 Complele Working Keyboard £135.00
271200 PCW8256/512 Complele Working Printer £135.00
277200 PCW9512 Complele Working Printer £185.00
271300 PCW8256 Complete Working Monitor £145.00
271301 PCW8512 Complete Working Monitor £245.00
277300 PCW9512 Complete Working Monitor „ _.._ _ £255.00
AMSTRAD PCW CIRCUIT BOARDS:-
ORDER
CODE
710171
710181
700771
111171
600771
51 1171
500771
831171
800771
EXCHANGE PURCHASE
PRICE PRICE
_ £86.95 £86.95
. „ £75.95 £93.75
_ £80.00 £97.95
£48.95 £74.25
£48.95 £74.25
PCW8256/512 PCS, Keyboard £21.95 £28.95
PCW9512 PCB. Keyboard _ £21.95 £28.95
PCW8256/512 PCS, Printer „ £15.95 £27.95
PCW9512 PCB. Prinler £15.95 £27.95
DESCRIPTION
PCW8256 PCB. CPU .._
PCW8512PCB.CPU
PCW9512 PCB. CPU
PCW8256/512 PCB. Monitor .
PCW9512 PCB, Monilor .
• AMSTRAD PCW DISC DRIVES:-
ORDER DESCRIPTION EXCHANGE
CODE PRICE ONLY
500091 PCW8256/512 "A" Disc Drive (Real Amstrad!) £64.75
422171 PCW8512 - B - Disc Drive (Real Amstrad!) £72.75
410771 PCW9512 - B' Disc Drive (Real Amstrad!) £92.75
• AMSTRAD PCW PRINTER PARIS:-
ORDER
CODE
210771
721171
681171
761171
321171
121171
432171
810771
112171
821171
621171
521171
DESCRIPTION EXCHANGE PURCHASE
PRICE PRICE
PCW9512 Printer Mechanism £79.95 £99.95
PCW8256/512 Printer Mechanism £39.95 £61.95
PCW8256/51 2 Printer Head
PCW8256/512 Motor Head Drive
£36.25
.£14.25
PCW8256/512 Paper Holder (Black) — _.._.._ £2.25
PCW8256/512 Paper Tray Gray) „ — „..._.„ £8.75
PCW8256/512 Printer Head Lief (Black) „ £5.55
PCW95 12 Tractor Feed Unit £22.95
PCW8256/512 Tractor Feed Unit £15.75
PCW8256/512 24 Volt DC Cable £5.25
PCW8256/512 Printer Plalern Knob (Black) _ „ £5.95
PCW8256/512 Printer Bail Bar Knob (Black) £5.45
AMSTRAD PCW KEYBOARD PARTS:-
2O0771 PCW9512 Full Keyboard (Less Case) £59.65
620171 PCW8256/512 Full Keyboard (Less Case) £46.25
332171 PCW82S6/512 Keyboard DIN. Cable £7.25
AMSTRAD PCW PARTS MISC:-
82561 1 PCW8256/512 Service Manual . — „ _ £12.00
95121 1 PCW9512 Service Manual £18.00
310171 PCW825675 12 On/oft Power Switch £5.25
Un-plug the heater will you! ....Sorry wrong one!
too late your work has all been lost! ....or has it?
Vj
hjfl£?
IS8901 Battery Back Pack ONLY £39.95 +vat
Fitting a Battery Back Pap k to your PCW is like taking out insurance,
because if the mains power should be turned off or just drop for a fraction
of a second while you arc typing. The batteries in the back pack stop
"•harging and ke^p your PCW memory alive. Thus saving your hard typed
"ork in memory. Also built into the Battery Back Pack is a beeper which
beeps for a few seconds to tell you that the mains power has gone! After
all you could just be turning your PCW OFF!
ISENSTEIN COMPUTER SYSTEMS
GLENDALE BUSINESS CENTRE
DEESIDE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
WELSH ROAD
CLWYD CH5 2LR
>K
TEL 0244 822768/ 312986
Phone Our 24 Hour Hotline Now!
Please Add VAT To All Prices
Goods above £30.00 P + P free.
Goods below £30.00 please add £2.50 P + P.
PAPER
LOOK AT OUR RANGE!
All prices per lOOO sheets incl. VAT
11/9.5 60g9m Listing £6.45 <-p&p
1 1/9.5 70gsm Microperf £7.95 ♦ Pap
11/9.5 85gsm Letter Qual £9.95 + p&p
A4 size70gsm Microperf £9.70 ♦ p«p
A4size85gsm Letter Qual £10.95 + p&p
A5 size Letter Quality paper,
Upright (Portrait] Orientation,
Microperf all edges for letter-writing £13.90 * P&P
□ Address Labels □
3.5/1 .5, 1 - or 2- across £3.75 per 1000
+£2.50 P&P (any size order)
□ ENVELOPES □
500 1000
3.5/6 Manilla gummed £3.95 £6.95
DL White serf-seal £8.95 £16.95
DL White Self-seal + window £10.95 £19.95
Please add £2.50 P&P for paper/label/envelope
"10-in-a-box"
Smart, lockable disk bank
with 10CF-2 disks. . .
£29.95
inc. VAT & post
(Box holds 20+ disks)
*Box on its own £9.95 incl.
DUST COVERS
PROTECT YOUR EQUIPMENT!
PCW 8256/8512 set £1 1 .95
PCW 9512 set £13.95
orders
SOFTWARE
ALL SOFTWARE PRICES INCLUDE VAT & POST
stavcoo*--
rou-owfHE
RIBBONS
THE WIDEST RANGE
■All Include VAT & post free-
PCW 8256/8512
1 off 2 off 5off
Black High Quality fabric £3.95 £7.45 £1 6.95
Black ExtraLife £4.95 £8.95 £19.95
Colours* £4.95 £8.95 £19.95
Multistrike Films £3.95 £7.45 £16.95
PCW 9512
1 off 2 off 5 off
Multistrike films £3.95 £7.45 £16.95
Fabric Black £3.95 £7.45 £16.95
Fabric Black ExtraLife £4.95 £8.95 £19.95
Fabric Colours* £4.95 £8.95 £19.95
Lifetimes: M/Strike 100 000 Characters
Fabrics 400 000 Characters
ExtraLife 750 000 Characters
Fabrics offer longer life and may be used with Refresh I
Mix 'n' Match: any 5 @ £3.95 for £16.95
any 5 @ £4.95 for £19.95
'Colours available: Red, Blue, Green, Brown
THE BEST OF THE PCW DATABASES
W/PROCESSING
Product RRP Our»
Locofile2" 29.95 28.95
LocomaJI2 29.95 28 95
Loccrfont 24.95 22 95
Locoscript2 - 24 95
Locospell2 • 18.95
Locoscript 2 * USpeli 34.90 32.95
Pretext 59.95 44.95
Pocket Pretext 3995 28 95
Supertype2 2495 19.85
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
StopPress 4999 3995
SPress + Mouse 89.99 7995
Desk Top Publisher 29.95 22 95
DTP + Mouse 79.95 5495
Fleet Street Editor 48.95 39.95
ACCOUNTS
Digita Business Cont 99.95 79.95
Diglta Tax Planner 24 90 2195
Cornix Simple Accounts 2 99 95 79.95
MAP Integrated Accounts . 143.75 109 95
MAP Payroll. 69 00 49 95
MAP (Individual Ledgers) 49.95 each
MAP Stock Control . . 69.00 49.95
Money Manager t 39.95 29.95
Sage Pop Accounts 99 99 74 95
Sage Accounts Plus 1 49.50 1 09 95
Sage Pop Payroll 70.15 54.95
Sage Pop Invoice 70.15 54.95
Product
AtLastPlus
First Base
Comix Card Index'
DATABASES
RRP Ours
39.95 2995
29.95 2795
34.95 29 95
HftRte/
Upwardly compatible with ATLAST PC
>
MasterfileBOOO 49.95 36.95
SageRetrleve 70.15 49.95
SPREADSHEETS
First Calc.
Cracker 2
2995 2795
49 00 36 95
Supercalcll 48.95 39 95
UTILITIES/GENERAL
ArnorMaxam2 49 95 39 95
ArnorC 49 95 39 95
Cornix Job Estimator 79.90 69.95
Comix Product Costing 79.90 69.95
Knlfe + 1895 18.95
Planlt 1995 16.95
Stockmarket 39.95 32.95
Typerite 17.95 1695
LEISURE
Tomahawk 19.95 16.95
Colossus Bridge. 15 95 12.95
Colossus Chess 15.95 12.95
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WRITING PERIODICALLY
Can you earn a living from your hobby? Kevin Fox tells how he learned to
make some money from his interest in radio and astronomy
Special Interest Groups, which means people
with hobbies, who were once fobbed off with
the cry 'Not enough interest to publish a
magazine, old boy' are now served with
literally hundreds of magazines. This has
resulted in an explosion of magazines catering
for almost every interest and hobby under the
sun, ranging from Bondage Monthly' to the
more exotic 'Pond Fish' all of which will pay
good money for articles.
All of these magazines require copy; they're even
screaming out for it. There's an insatiable thirst for
articles and photographs - especially pictures - so
where do you start? Market research is the key to
successful magazine writing, and that research must start
with yourself. My special areas of interest are: computing,
amateur radio, communications and weather satellite
systems, astronomy and photography. So I began writing
magazine articles around these areas, starting with
Amateur Radio.
Your first step is to think about your areas of interest,
and then honestly assess your subject knowledge. It's
unwise to write about an interest you know little about and
even when you do think you know the facts, check them
anyway. Hobby magazines are read by both beginner and
expert alike and any errors in your article will be ruthlessly
rammed back down your throat. You have been warned.
Whilst we're on the subject of warnings, don't make the
mistake of thinking that because magazines are always
screaming out for copy they'll take any old rubbish.
Whether it's the parish magazine or a respected journal like
8000 Plus, any editor worth his or her salt will spot junk
writing a mile off.
Once you've analysed your interests, find out exactly
what magazines are available to you, which ones you might
write for. A friendly newsagent (mine thinks I'm wonderful,
might be something to do with his annual six-week vacation
in the Bahamas, courtesy of my magazine bill) is most
helpful. Not all newsagents will stock all magazines, but
they do have a book which tells them what magazines there
are for a particular hobby. Try to obtain at least one, and
preferably all magazines which cover the hobby you want to
write about. Nobody said market research was cheap.
Which magazine?
Having acquired your magazines, what do you do with
them? Well, you study them, (but don't do it in the Worksop
branch of W.H. Smiths because that's where I do a lot of my
research) and by study I do not just mean read. This is what
you need to discover before you put pen to paper.
Does the magazine encourage freelance contributions?
Most do, and say so quite clearly, but there are still a few
which don't. Examine each article in the magazine, ask
yourself the following questions; why was this article written,
what is the subject matter, how deep does the article go? Is
the subject treated in a light-hearted manner with simple
words, short sentences and lots of illustrations, or is it
'heavy', with lots of long words and sentences, graphs,
tables and formulae?
Look at the magazine as a whole. What is the overall
'feel', who is the magazine directed at. the beginner or the
expert? Estimate (by the nature and depth of the articles)
the readership age. Get hold of as many back issues of the
magazine as you can to enable you to follow through with
any series, and to discover what articles have already been
covered. Find out what appears to be the favourite subject
and then avoid it like the plague; you're far more likely to get
in with something original, even if it isn't quite so
professional. When a subject has been done to death it
takes a lot more effort from an author to get another article
out of it.
If an author's name crops up regularly then pay
particular attention to his or her style, but don't copy it. Use
it as a guide to help you discover what kind of writing the
magazine prefers.
Illustrated news
After your period of study (and if you've done it properly)
you should be an 'expert' on that particular magazine. You
should know its editorial policy, the name, address and
telephone number of the editor, fully understand and be
able to explain to someone the overall feel, style and reader
age of the magazine.
You should know what articles have been published
during the past year and the depth to which they were
covered. You will have absorbed the various styles of the
magazine's contributors, and have a good idea of the
required article length and illustration requirements.
When you can do all this, you should be able to predict
what sort of article the magazine will consider favourably
and then write it in the style of the magazine. Easy, isn't it?
Now, for your first lesson in market research. Why has
8000 Plus chosen to publish my article? Answering that
question will set you on the road to successful >^^
magazine writing. (Answers to the author on the back ^«- i *
Your words
The mere act ol committing
words to paper (or disc)
makes them copywnte; you
don! need to do anything else
at all. But il someone else has
written very similar words - as
often happens when writing
to a particular style, you have
no argument with them
unless you can prove
plagiarise It's interesting that
poets are notorious lor
stealing good fines.
17 8000 PLUS September 89
The first time: John Huggins reminisces
on his first published article
I'd often seen the little boxes in various magazines
pleading tor reader contributions. Kevin explained about
the dearth ot good technical articles in the various
Amateur Radio magazines, so I put together a technical
piece concerning Radio Teletype communications;
teleprinters to the uninitiated.
Writing the piece really made me think: just who was
I aiming the article at, and was I using the right level of
language? After two or three re-writes I had the balance
right. By using various illustrations I suddenly found that
I could dispose of whole paragraphs of descriptive text.
I made certain that my copyright statement was on
every page of the text, and on every illustration. I then
sent the manuscript and illustrations off to Practical
Wireless magazine, together with a covering letter stating
that I wrote the article, owned all the copyrights, and was
prepared to have it published at the usual rates.
It was tremendously exciting to see my first article
published, and In a magazine that had in the past carried
articles by such legends of communication as Marconi
and Sir Oliver Lodge. Of course, getting paid was the
cherry on the cake.
John Huggins lound ma! people did want 10 read his words ol wisdom
Come again
Magazines usually buy first
serial rights, which is what
you should offer, and the
copywnle slays with you. This
means that you can sell it to
another magazine as well. II
you do this, then tell them you
are offering second serial
rights. Most magazines want
original material and will get
very ratty if deceived.
18 8000 PLUS SwemberM
of a fifty pound note please.)
Okay. You've studied your potential market and
obtained answers to all the important questions you must
ask before - and I can't stress this enough - you start
writing. You now have an idea for an article and you've
written it; let's take a brief look at manuscript layout.
indenting articles
Your manuscript is the interface between you and the
magazine's editor, and it reflects the person you are. It has
to impress on sight, so hand-scrawled Sanskrit is out for a
start. Not thai a typewritten manuscript is compulsory;
editors prefer it because it's generally so much easier to
read. So, A4 paper, double line spacing with at least a two
inch wide left-margin, and one inch right margin is the
order of the day. Headers and footers always look
professional, and to save the editor's sanity, number each
page like so: PAGE (n) OF (n) PAGES, which means that
should a page go astray it will be spotted immediately, and
you won't be regarded as a narcoleptic.
As far as the actual content of your article goes, well,
you're the expert; but I can give you a few pointers. If you
use facts in your article, then always state the source of the
facts. Back up any assertions you make with supporting
evidence, and balance a controversial statement with the
other side's viewpoint as well as your own. Leave the
reader to decide who's right or wrong. And always, always
use plenty of illustrations (well why didn't I gel plenty ol
illustrations then - Ed?). I've switched to using DTP
software for my illustrations, and I find that these get used
exactly as I send them in.
Try to establish a new theme altogether or offer an
alternative viewpoint to an existing theme. Try looking at
your hobby from the perspective of a complete beginner,
often newcomers are overlooked because people
sometimes think, 'Well, everybody knows that', but they
don't and someone has to be the one to explain it all.
Ms found in a bottle
Don't try to cover too much ground in one article; stick to
one or two points. If you have more points to cover then
maybe you have a series? Whatever you do, don't leap
from subject to subject.
Ensure that all diagrams and photographs are clearly
labelled and identified in the text. Use
one illustration per A4 sheet; it may be
tempting to squeeze ten illustrations
onto one A4 sheet but you'll cause
havoc in the process camera room 'if
you do. It is axiomatic to say that you
must either own the copyright, or have
written permission for all the
illustrations you've used.
There are definite views on
submitting your finished manuscript.
Some editors like you to write to them
outlining your proposed article first,
and enclosing sample illustrations. I
don't do this: words are copyright,
ideas are not. I usually send in a
finished manuscript together with a
covering letter. But there is a danger in
doing this.
If your article isn't acceptable then
you've wasted the time involved in
writing it. I just happen to think that a
finished 'oven-ready' article is more
impressive than a mere outline, so you
pays yer money an' takes yer choice.
If you want your manuscript back,
you must include a self-addressed envelope together with
sufficient return postage. If your manuscript isn't suitable, it
will be returned very quickly together with a polite rejection
slip which states briefly why it isn't suitable. If, after three to
four weeks you haven't heard anything, the chances are the
magazine plans to publish - but remember that magazines
tend to work months in advance.
If your manuscript is accepted for publication the
editor will probably contact you to check that you own
the copyright, discuss the magazine's payment terms
and any major alterations, additions and illustrative
material required. If you agree, then that's it. About a
month after publication you'll receive your cheque and
sometimes a copy of the mag. ■
A word from
your editor
The view from the other side of the fence is slightly different
from that presented by Kevin Fox, but it seems worth
presenting it for your information. As an editor, I look first for
readability: did I enjoy reading the submission? After all, I'm
paid to read these things and if I couldn't be bothered to finish
it will anyone else? The ideal article both informs and
entertains; it is lucid in its presentation of the facts and
strives to communicate with rather than to impress the reader.
Of course this is an ideal obtained all too infrequently and
an article almost always needs further work after submission;
indeed many need rewriting completely to fit in with the needs
of the magazine. For this reason, it is often better to submit a
synopsis of a proposed article and ask how the editor would
like it done. The professional writers I deal with work this way.
Having your ideas stolen is rare - there are very few new
feature ideas, most have been done already. A magazine
editor is usually looking for a new way of presenting a subject
rather than for a completely original idea. However, what often
happens is that more than one submission will arrive on the
same subject, or two people will put up the same idea. This
has happened lo me on more than one occasion when I've
written for other magazines and it happens ocassionally on
8000 Plus. The only solution is to make sure that yours is the
best submission and that you are the most professional in
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IIGA I
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Posicode
Oo you already own a computer
Jl so. which one do you own'
J
CP/M
I name that code
The names lor mosl of the control
codes aren't exactly in everyday
use, but since both SETKEYS
and other CPM utilities know
them, you may as well know them
too. So here they are:
00 NUL Null
01 SOH Start heading
02STX Start text
03ETX End text
04 EOT End transmission
05 ENQ Enquire
06 ACK Acknowledge
07 BEL Bell
08 BS Backspace
09 HT Horizontal tab
THE KEY TO
Bored with keys that always do the same old thing or just wish you a
0ALF
Linefeed
0BVT
Vertical leed
0CFF
Form leed
0DCR
Carnage return
0ESO
Shift out
OF SI
Shift in
10DLE
Data link escape
11DC1
Device control 1
12DC2
Device control 2
13DC2
Device control 3
14DC2
Device control 4
I5NAK
Negative ack.
I6SYN
Synchronous idle
17ETB
End trans, block
18 CAN
Cancel
I9EM
End medium
IASS
Special sequence
1BESC
Escape
1CFS
File separator
1DGS
Group separator
1ERS
Record separator
1FUS
Unit separator
20 8000 PLUS SeplemUerW
Amstrad supplied several computer-specific
utilities with their PCW series of machines. Of
these one stands out as being more immediately
useful than any other: the SETKEYS utility.
If you've ever wished to make one program
behave like another, type in specific commands or
strings using just a single key, or just wanted to
make a piece of new software respond in some old
familiar fashion, then you need the power
SETKEYS gives you over the keyboard.
A variety of commercial CP/M programs, for instance
WordStar, insist that you run a SETKEYS file before
you use them, usually so that the cursor keys work
correctly. This is all very well until you leave that
program when you suddenly find that the cursor keys no
longer work as they should.
There are also programs that change the way the keys
work directly - without going through SETKEYS - which can
be even more annoying. So one of the first uses for
SETKEYS is to reset the keyboard to the standard layout
without having to reboot your PCW.
To find out how to do this, it's necessary to understand
how SETKEYS works, so let's start at the beginning, with the
keyboard. As far as the PCW itself is concerned, keys are
represented by no more than a number. The keys are
numbered as shown in the box and although the 9512 and
8256 keyboards are laid out differently, the same keys return
the same numbers; the [+] and [-] keys, for example, are 76
and 23 respectively on all PCW machines.
One other piece of information is reported to the PCW
from the keyboard - the shift state; this is whether the
[SHIFT], [ALT] or [EXTRA] keys are depressed.
Tableware
The PCW has an internal table where it stores what it should
produce for each of the key numbers and shift state
combinations. For example, pressing the key that returns 69
normally causes a lower case letter A to appear on screen. If
key number 69 is pressed with the [SHIFT] key held down, a
capital A is sent to the screen. Using SETKEYS you can alter
this table so that some other character is sent to the screen,
or so that every key sends the same character; not very
useful, perhaps, but entirely possible.
For SETKEYS to work, it needs new information to put into
the PCWs internal tables; this is taken from a simple Ascii file
containing the new information (written using RPED or from
LocoScript with the Make Ascii file option). Confusion often
arises concerning the number of different ways this
information can be written. We'll go into that in a minute. First
of all, though, what exactly can you set a key to do?
Well, a key can be made to produce a control character
(like [RETURN] or (ALT]c), a printable character, including any
of the foreign characters available under CP/M, or a string of
characters (which can include control codes as well). Strings
of characters generated from a single key
can be extremely useful with programs you use a lot like
Basic. Using SETKEYS, you can make the unused function
keys generate Basic key words like PRINT and CHR$, or
commands such as SAVE". Any program you use a lot would
benefit from a swift application of SETKEYS.
Step by step with
SETKEYS
First you need to decide what keys need redefining for your
purposes and whether or not there are any strings you'd like
produced on a single key press. A line to redefine a key consists
of three required parts and one optional part. They must,
however, be separated by a space and are as follows:
Key number to 80.
Shift state N, S, A, E, SA or any combination.
Character required The character itself or its Ascii code.
An optional comment To remind you of your intentions.
For an expansion string definition there are again three
necessary parts and one optional section:
E To say it is an expansion string.
Expansion token A hex number between #80 and #9F.
The string itself Which can contain control codes.
An optional comment
Next make an Ascii file containing the lines that redefine the
keys and set the expansion strings as explained in the main text.
Save this file with some memorable name, like SC2.KEY for
working with SuperCalc, perhaps.
Make sure you have both SETKEYS and the file of key
definitions on either your working disc or M so that it is available
when you need it.
Now, if you want to make your keys behave differently while at
the command line (the A> under CP/M) then just type:
SETKEYS SC2.KEY[RETURN],
However, if you always want your keyboard set up differently
include the command as a line in your PROFILE. SUB file so that
CP/M can run SETKEYS automatically when you turn your
machine on.
Just a token
The very observant will have noticed that certain of the lines in the
file above begin not with a number but with an E. How can this be so
after all that's been said? The trick here is that some numbers don't
refer to a character at all but to an expansion string. In fact all the
numbers between 80 hex and 9E hex (128 to 158) can be used for
expansion strings though some are best left alone since they are
assigned already to cursor keys, the [STOP] key and the [DEL] keys.
In fact the safest keys to work with from among those available
are the function keys, numbered from 81 hex to 88 hex. It makes
sense to limit yourself anyway since you are allowed a total of jusl
120 characters in all.
If you look in the OLD.KEY file above, you will see that the last
four entries share something in common. Two of them have #8F in
them and two have #90. To define an expansion string, you need to
start the line with an E (for expansion) followed by the number of the
expansion string associated with the key you're interested in • #8F
and #9F in this case and then finally, the string itself. There is a list
in the manual.
This string then has to be attached to a particular key number
just as if it were an ordinary character. So if you wanted to have [f1]
produce the word Steve on the screen, you'd put in two lines thus:
E #81 "Steve"
THE FACTS
■ get more out of those you don't use? pidj ;las SETKEYS kdplaer!
CP/M
Combined forces
The real power of the CP/M utilities can only really be
appreciated by those who use them in concert. Each
utility is designed to do just a tew housekeeping jobs
and really needs to be considered as just a part ot a
complete system.
So far in this current reprise of the CP/M utilities
we've covered only the standard utilities. However, as
purists may well point out. SETKEYS is a little bit of a
cheat. You see. there are utilities and utilities; some of
them are pure CP/M utilities and others are specific to
the PCW implementation.
The normal CP/M utilities come with any CP/M
system but some of those on the PCW were written
just for you. SETKEYS is the first utility covered in this
series that falls into the latter category. Some
computers come with hardwired keyboards and
there's no easy way of altering the way that they work.
The PCW, by contrast, is a machine whose operation
can be altered in a myriad of ways by those with the
will to find out how everything works.
To give you an idea for something to try with
SETKEYS why not set up a disc, a suitable SETKEYS
data tile and a PROFILE. SUB to turn your keyboard
into one with a DVORAK layout; with a bit of practice
this is supposed to enable anyone to type a great deal
faster.
Other Start of Day discs might in future have
SETKEYS files on them to set your function keys up
to produce various useful commands or sequences of
keystrokes, the permutations are endless. What's
more, they can be a lot of fun. So get busy and learn
how to combine the actions of the utilities to get the
best from your machine; you won't regret it.
02N"«'#81"'
If you wanted to produce Steve followed by a [RETURN], you'd need
this in the expansion string:
E#81 "Steve "M"
But if the up arrow and double speech marks are part of the syntax of
an expansion string, how do you get them to print out? You need to
preface the up arrow you want printed with another and also put one
in front of any quote marks required, like this:
E #81 "Steve" and"""
Now pressing [f1] would produce Steve'and" on the screen. Let's
define three rather more useful examples of expansion strings.
Firstly, a list of the keys the strings will be assigned to, [Hj, [f3j and
|I5] followed by the strings themselves. The first one runs a SETKEYS
file, the second one unsets all the files on the disc in drive A so that
you can work with them, and the third supplies an ID number as part
of a Telecom Gold log-on sequence:
02 N ""'#81'"
00N"'#83"
73N""'#85"'
E #81 "SETKEYS OLD.KEY'M"
E#83 "SETA:V[ulR)"M"
E#85"IDABC123'M"
These are just a few examples of the kind of thing you can so with
SETKEYS; now that you know how to do it. you'll soon find specific
uses relevant to your own needs.
Nice characters
Changing characters is the most straightforward use of SETKEYS. To
do this you need only define the key number, the shift state and then,
finally, the character you want to be produced. However, there is
more than one way to define the new character although simply
putting the required character in quotes is the simplest method.
Some characters can't be produced from the keyboard, either
because they aren't currently set in the English language version of
the PCW or because they are control characters, so there are other
ways of defining them. The next simplest method is to use the Ascii
number of the character in either decimal or hex notation. For
example, any of the following lines in a SETKEY file would make the 9
on the numeric keypad produce a backslash:
04 N "\" Unshifted with backslash in quotes
04 N "''92'" Unshifted with decimal code
04 N " f '#5C "' Unshifted with hex code
Note that the up arrow ([EXTRA]*;) has to be there with the numbers
and that the number must be in single quotes. This constraint applies
when using the names of the control codes as you'll see in a moment.
The final thing to discuss is the capital N. This simply means that the
key numeric pad 9 produces a backslash when used in the normal
state, with no shift keys.
Instead of the N you could have specified A for [ALT], S for
[SHIFT], E for [EXIT], SA for [ALT][SHIFT] or any combination thereof.
If you include more than one shift state - for example if you had 04 N
E SA "\" in the line above - then the numeric pad 9 would produce a
backslash on its own or with the [SHIFT], the [SHIFT][ALT] or the
[EXIT] keys.
But let's look again at the control characters that can't be printed,
like [RETURN], There are times, for example with some public domain
comms programs, when if would be nice to be able to produce certain
control characters. Well, as already stated, these can be produced in
several ways. Making the same 9 produce the Escape code when
pressed with [SHIFT] (the code produced by the [EXIT] key) can also
be done in several ways: by quoting the character's Ascii code (as
above), by representing it as an Escape-character combination or by
giving it its name, which is a method you may not have come across
(all the codes lower than 32 have a name - bet you didn't know that).
So the line in the SETKEYS file could look like any of these:
04 S "T'27"' Shifted with decimal code
04S"T'#1B"' Shifted with name of code
04 S "T[" Shifted with Control-square bracket
So now you know how to change one character into another or
produce control codes let's write a useful file for SETKEYS to work
with. On the 9512 discs there is a utility called CPMKEYS that resets
the keyboard to its standard layout. Here, for the 8000 series machine
is a file that resets most of those likely to be altered. In particular it
puts the cursor keys right after WordStar has been used.
Those of you who use the public domain VD025 editor (which
8000 Plus gave away on the subscribers' disc) or any of its variants,
generally use the KEYS.WP file with SETKEYS to make the editor
work with the cursor keys and so on. This little file will set most of
them back the way they were. Just make an Ascii file of the lines and
call the resulting file something memorable; OLD.KEY perhaps?
The lines you need are in the margin box with the title, Curseless
keys. To produce it you can use RPED, VD025 itself, LocoScrlpt with
the Make Ascii file option or even PIP. One of the joys of working with
computers is that there are almost always several different ways to
get from here to there.
Curseless keys
This is the file that will reset
most of the keys to the way
they operate when the PCW is
lirst turned on. For anyone
working with a variety ol
software this shod file can save
an awtul lot ol irritation
66N"TC
02NS"Tr
00NS-TQ"
73 NS -TS"
77NS"TP"
16N-TG'
75N"TH"
10N"TU"
03 N "TW
20N-T]"
14N"T_-
23 N "TV
15 N "TA-
OS N"TF
05 N -Tr
01N-TR-
79 N -T'30~
16A"TK"
76 N -Tr
79A-TE"
72A-TX"
13N-T'#8F'"
13S"T'#90~
E #8F -TfTbTB"
E#90"TFTB-
SepK-mtw 89 8000 PLUS 21
BRITAIN'S BEST SELLING WORDPROCESSOR RANGE
AMSTRAD PCW 8256
Lj ii w •
j]
la
h
*^ii
AMSTRAD PCW 8512
AMSTRAD PCW 9512
THE AMSTRAD PCW8256 - A fully
integrated word processing system with
keyboard, screen, 256K of internal RAM.
360K 3" disk drive, software and printer.
Established over the last two years as the
market leader, the PCW8256 continues to
offer unbeatable value for money.
VALUE: £321. 00
8256 On Site Service 1st year £36.00
ACCESSORIES 8256/8512
THE AMSTRAD PCW851 2 - offering double
the internal memory of the PCW 8256 plus
an additional 720K disk drive which both
avoids the need for frequent disc-swapping
and gives you greatly increased data
storage capacity at only £100 + VAT more
VALUE: £421.00
8512 On Site Service 1st year £45.00
ACCESSORIES 8256/8512/9512
THE AMSTRAD PCW9512 - featuring a
wide-carriage daisywheel printer, black and
white screen, 51 2K RAM. 720K disk drive,
enhanced keyboard and Locoscript 2 word
processing software with integrated
Spellcheck and Mailmerge facilities, giving
you top quality performance all round.
VALUE £449.00
9512 On Site Service 1st year £49.00
ACCESSORIES PCW 9512
FD2 Second Disk Drive 8256 £115.00
PACE 5.25" 2nd Drive - with its own built in
interface comes with free TDOS and
external power supply. Very easy to fit. We
use one for data transfer from
PCW/PC/PCW £159.00
Titmatic 20MB PCW hard disk £495.00
CYC 256K to 51 2K Memory Upgrade Kit
with fitting instruction £49.00
CPS 8256 Amstrad RS232 P/S
Interface £49.00
MCS 8256 Micro Control P/S R3232
Interface £49.00
CYC PCW 8256/8512 Power and Printer
Extension Lead £11.00
MARGIN MAKER
Single Sheet guide for the 8256/8512
£8.75
PCW DUST COVERS
3 Cover Set VDU. printer, Keyboard (please
specify 8256 or 8512 or 9512)
£8.65
_ maxell
j?. __ CF-2per10 £22.00
m Jl CF-2 per 20 £42.00
CF-2 per 30 £63.00
AMSOFT
I CF-2 Per 10 £24.00
ST! CF-2 Per 20 £45.00
Disk Cleaner £6.50
DISK STORAGE BOXES 8256851 2/951 2
3" Disk Storage Box holds 30 £11.50
3" Tiered Stacker holds 10 £5.50
4 WAY MAINS DISTRIBUTION SOCKET
With built in Arrester to give protection from
mainsbome spikes £14.50
Surge Protected Plug £9.50
FD4 2ND DISK DRIVE 1MB FOR
PCW 9512 £115.00
CPS 9512 AMSTRAD RS232
P/S Interface £49.00
AUTOMATIC SHEET FEEDER
The ASF9512 is an automatic sheet feeder
for use with the PCW 9512. It will hold up to
30 sheets of paper enabling either multi-
page documents or mail-merged letters to
be printed unattended, thereby releasing the
user for other tasks and improving
productivity. The Sheet Feeder can be
attached or removed in seconds, leaving the
printer to accept individual sheets of paper
or the standard tractor assembly.
E75.00
DOT MATRIX PRINTERS
EPSON
Epson LX800 150cps/80col E175.00
Epson SQ2500 InkJet £875.00
Epson LQ550 150cps/50nlq £275.00
Epson LQ850 220 cps/73nlq £445.00
Epson LQ1050 132 col 220cps/73nlq £570.00
Epson LQ2550 New In £925.00
Epson DFX5000 (high speed) £1295.00
Epson FX850 £329.00
Epson FX1050 £415.00
Epson FX1050 £415.00
COMPUTER PRINTERS
Star LC10 Multifont Printer £185.00
Star LC10 Colour Printer £215.00
Star NX15 120cps 30nlq 136col £289.00
Star LC24-10 Latest 24 Pin Machine £289.00
AMSTRAD PRINTERS
The new Amstrad LQ5000 24 Pin Printer
Our Price £360.00
DMP4000 136 col 200 cps F/T50n/q.. £249.00
DMP 3250 di £165.00
Amstrad LQ3500 24 Pin £270.00
PANASONIC PRINTERS
Panasonic KX-P1124
Draft - 160 cps. NLQ - 63 cps £269.00
Panasonic KX-P1180
Draft - 132 cps. NLQ - 38 cps £165.00
LASER PRINTERS
Epson GQ3500 £1295.00
Now comes with 2 FREE font cards and HP
ID card (with I year on site maintenance).
HP Laser Jet II £1445.00
Panasonic KX-P4450 £1595.00
Canon LBP MKII £1395.00
Canon 8HT D/Bin £1995.00
Canon 8HT Duplex £2195.00
Brother HL8 £1445.00
Star Laser 8 £1450.00
(accessories available please ring)
AMSTRAD PCW MAINTENANCE KIT
PCW PRINTER 8256/8512
£14.00
PRINTER RIBBONS (min order 2's)
PRINTER
QTY
QTY
QTY
Amstrad PCW
2+
5+
10*
PCW 8256/8512 Nylon
£4.30
£3.90
£3.50
PCW 8256/8512 Carbon
£4.95
£4.50
£4.00
PCW 8256/8512 Colour
£5.00
£4.75
£4.50
PCW 9512 Nylon
£3.50
£3.30
£3.00
PCW 9512 Carbon
£4.75
£4.50
£4.00
PCW 9512 Colour
£5.20
£5.00
£4.75
Colours: Red. Blue. Green
Brown, Orange or
3 urple
DAISYWHEELS FOR PCW 9512
AVAILABLE TYPE STYLES
PRODUCT CODE T Y PE FAC E
Courier 10 Prestige Pica 1
Recta 10 Oratorio
Letter Gothic 10/12 Prestige Elite 1 2
Script 12 Mini Gothic 15
Thesis PS
Each £5.25
For other printer ribbons please call
PRINTER LABELS
1 Across (1000) £6.00
2 Across (2000) £8.50
PRINTER PAPER
Price
80 COLUMN LISTING PAPER per Box
11x9.5 2000 1 part plain 60gsm (Fanlold) £13.50
11x9.5 2000 1 part plain 80gsm £19.00
11x9.5 1000 2 part NCR £21.50
A4 -2000 1 part plain 70gsm £19.00
A4 • 1500 1 part plain 90gsm £18.50
132 COLUMN LISTING PAPER
1 1 X14.5 2000 1 part plain 60gsm £1 7.00
11 x 14.5 2000 1 part M/Rule 60gsm £17.50
For Large quantity price please call
PRINTER CABLES (parallel)
25M to 36M
2M Parallel cable £10.00
3M Parallel cable £11.50
5M Parallel cable £14.00
2M 36 Way Centronics to
36 Way Centronics £12.50
joycesti*m o ™| o
• Price includes FREE Ace Flight Simulator Game!!
• Contour grip design
• Fully utilises 8256
• Deluxe Positive
hardware.
response button
• Joystick interface
• Conventional tiring
• Easy installation
button.
• Plus into 8256
• Rubber suction cup
expansion port
litting lor stable one
hand operation.
• Wide range ol
compatible software
• Contour groove lor
• Full one year
sure grip
guarantee.
Mouse Pad £5.00
MODEMS
AMSTRAD V21/V23
Features 1200/75. 75/1200, 300/300
Baud rates £99.00
LINNET V21/V23
(needs RC232 Centronics Interface) Auto dialing
and answering. Hayes compatibility. 32
names/number store
3 Help Menus £129.00
MICRACQM WS4Q0 Q
Auto Hayes - standard with connecting
cable £156.00
PHOTOCOPIERS
C ANON FC- 5 £602
Si
Small portable copier • Light weight
Easy Maintenance • Business Card to A4 size
Stack 50 sheets at a time, multiple copying
Automatic Sheet Feed • Unique disposable carlndge
CANON PC-7 - £895.50
8 copies per minute • Automatic sheet leed system
100 sheet cassette capacity • Unique, sealed disposable
cartridge ■ Multiple copy facility • Reduction/Enlargement
5 page document leed • Fine mode, automatic
contrast control • Copying
FAX MACHINES
CANON 80 - £750
CANON 120 -£1 OOP
The latest 'phone fax" that tits on a corner ot your
desk. A personal tax that has a host ol features
usually found in more expensive units.
The same document can be sent to 1 6 different
locations automatically, once stored in the FAX- 120
desktop facsimile unit. Not only a fax but a memory
phone and copier.
Memorises 16 phones/16 fax numbers
One touch speed dialling • Copies at a touch ol a
button • 17 seconds/page • Built in clock
• Broadcasts to 16 different locations • Polling, on
hook dialling • Automatic background control
• Effective recording width 8 inches • Modem speed
2.400bps aulomatic tailback
NEC NEFAX 2 - £995
FOR OTHER FAX MACHINES CALL US
!\ ELECTRONIC ORGANISER
£156.00
The Ultimate
Organiser Quickly
and Easily Controls
Personal Information
& Time Management.
• Seven major
functions in one:
Calendar, Schedule. Phone/Address Book, Memo
Pad, Clock, World Clock and Calculator.
• Application can be expanded by optional IC cards.
• Displays instructions - operator can be learned in
minutes.
• Stores approx. 700 names and numbers or 440
schedues (32 KB Memory)
• Big 8-line display (128 characters) or 4-line display
(48 characters). • Optional Printer/Cassette interface
Telephone: 01-700-4004. Fax: 01-700-4677
All prices exclude Carriage * VAT
COPICLIP £8 + VAT
Combining practicality with economy, the Copiclip is the latest development
from the manufacturers ot the Thingi copyholder. Easy to install, use and
detach, the Copiclip is a handy addition to any office or home.
The one peice finished product is made up of 6 different components,
each superbly moulded and finished.
The Copiclip's flexibility means reduced neck S eye strain for the user whilst
having the ability to hold single or multiple pages.
Extra strong velcro fastening for a strong hold on to almost any VDU
THE THINGI £6.50 + VAT
THE AFFORDABLE COPYHOLDER
A modified version of the original product which creates a working space
out of thin air. Can be positioned on the right or left-hand side of VDU' s.
The addition of a swivel facility (not Illustrated) allows for repositioning.
towards or away from the operator, without having to
remove the Thingi from its unique velcro fastening.
The Thingi can hold single sheets, multiple sheets, or even magazines.
MINI SUPER CLEANER C8.00 + VAT
A Multipurpose tool, ideal for cleaning inaccessible areas on all delicate
equipment. Operates on 2 x 1.5V batteries (not supplied) and has two
functions: Sucks the dust into its own bag, or Blows Ihe dust away.
Kit consists ot a handle, brush, pipette and bag. Ideal for cameras.
disk drives, printers etc. etc.
MINI OFFICE
PROFESSIONAL PLUS
Specify 8256 or 8512/9512
Mini Office Professional Plus
(including Spellchecker)
Spellchecker/Thesaurus only
®
£29.00
£14.50
With Master Scan you can reproduce any picture
on your PCW screen - and print it out as many
times as you like.
£49.00
Incorporates graphics into packages such as The Desktop Publisher.
Fleet Si Editor Plus and Newsdesk. Send scanned images via a Modem
to other PCW's anywherel
As well as creating drawings from scratch you can load in scanned
images from Master Scan and manipulate them using Master Paint's
versatile tools. Then you can remove superfluous detail, fine tune the
drawing using the zoom feature, and add text £13.00.
wEEt
MASTERSCAN
AND MASTERPAINT
£55.00
FLIPPER 2
" Like having an extra PCW"
new version - easier to install, more options £29.00
WORD PROCESSING
Amor Protext £35.00
Arnor Pocket Prolexl £27.00
New World II £43.00
Tasman Tasword 8000 £15.00
Tasman Tasprint 8000 £10.00
Tasman Taspell 8000 £12.00
Tasman Tas Sign £20.00
DATABASES
Comsoft Cambase II . £30 00
Database Manager Plus £25.00
dBase ll-Ashton Tate £66.00
Dalastore Diglta V.2 £28.00
Dalabase Manager Atlasl £18.00
Mastertile 8000 £29.00
Supenype - Digita V2 £16.00
Sage Retneve £42.00
Sage Magic Filer £43.00
ACCOUNTS
Compsoft Stock Control £36.00
Map Integrated Accounts £90.00
Map Payroll £36.00
Map Slock Control £39.00
Money Manager Plus £25.00
Sage Popular Accounts £56.00
Sage Popular Accounts Plus £88.00
Sage Popular Invoicing £41 00
Sage Popular Payroll £41 00
SPREADSHEETS
Amsott Supercalc 2 £40.00
Cracker II £29.00
LOCOMOTIVE SOFTWARE
Locoscnpt2 £19.00
Locoscnpl 2 wilh Locospell £33.00
Locospell2 £17.00
Locomall2 £25.00
Locolont £16.00
Locotonl2 £12.00
Locoflle 8256/8512 £25 00
Locofile9512 £25.00
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
AMX Mouse Only .£39.00
Database Desktop Publisher
wilh AMX Mouse £53.00
Reel Slreel Editor Plus £37.00
Kempslon Mouse £56.00
Kempslon Mouse wilh Fleet St Editor £95.00
Stop Press (software) only £30.00
Slop Press wilh AMX Mouse £58.00
Micro Design II £40.00
GENERAL UTILITIES
Amor C £38 00
Arnor Maxam £38.00
C-Stam (File Transler System. PC S PCWI £34.00
Digital Pascal MT. £34.00
Digital C Basic Compiler .£34.00
Digila Personal Tax Planner £20.00
Digila Business Controller £65.00
Mass Easy Labeller (specify computer! £23.00
Prospell £20.00
Rotate £17.00
TUTORIALS
lankey Two Fingers Touch Typing £16.00
lankey Crash Course Typing
(Beginners) £16 00
Reeltime PCW9512 Locoscnpl 2 £29.00
Reellime PCW8256/851 2 Locoscnpl £29.00
Reeltime PCW8256/8512 Locoscnpl 2. £29.00
CP'M Learn lo use your Computer .. .£29.00
EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE
Magic Maths (Age 4-8) £14.50
Maths Mania (Age 8-12) £14.50
Betler Malhs (Age 12-16) £14.50
Belter Spelling (Age 8-Adull) £14.50
Biology l (Age 12-16) £15.50
Chemistry 1 (Age 12-16) £15.50
Physics 1 (Age 12-16) £15.50
BOOKS (no VAT payable)
All in One Mini Office Professional £11.50
Advanced Locoscnpl Amslrad PCW £4.50
A Guide to Logo by Amslrad £9.95
Desktop Publishing with Ihe
Amstrad PCW £9.50
Easily Into Amslrad (Rogers) plus VATE14.23
Locoscnpl 2 8 Amslrad PCW Comp ...£11.95
Locoscnpl 2 PCW9512 By Sinclair .
Locoscnpt/Locomatl/ Locospell
Looking Into Locoscrip! 2 Amslrad...
Mallard Basic By Locomotive
Masiering Amslrad PCW8256/8512 £8.95
Program Your PCW By Ian Sinclair £7.50
Practical Amstrad Wordprocessing £5.95
Slep By Step Guide To Locoscnpl £4.95
Using Amslrad Word Processor . .
Using Databases Amslrad PCW .
Using The Amslrad PCW9512..
£9.95
...£7.95
£13.95
..£9.50
£9 25
..£6.50
£9.95
15 Hour Word Processing - Amstrad £5.95
LEISURE SOFTWARE
Ace (All PCWs) £14.00
Brian Cloughs Football (All PCWs) £14.95
Bob Winner(8000's only) £10.00
Balman (8000s only) £11.00
Bridge Player 2000 (ALL PCWs) £16.00
Camer Command £18.00
Classic Games 4 (ALL PCWS) £12.00
Classics Collodion £11.00
Classics Collection II £11.00
Clock Chess 89 (ALL PCWS) £14.00
Colossus Chess 4 (ALL PCWS) £14.00
Cyrus Chess II (ALL PCWS) £12.00
Corruption (ALL PCWS) £16.00
Easy Games - 3 games in t £12.00
Fish (ALL PCWS) £17.00
Frank Brunos Boxing (8000s ONLY) ..£13.00
Graham Gooches Cnckel 18000s ONLY) ...£12.00
Head Over Heels (8000s ONLY) £11.00
Heathrow/Soulhern Belle £12 50
Ingnds Back (ALL PCWS) £17.50
Jewels Of Darkness (ALL PCWS) £15.00
Jinxler (ALL PCWS) £15.00
Knighl Ore (ALL PCWS) £14.00
Lancelo! (ALL PCWS) £12.00
Living Daylights (8000s ONLY) £10.00
Leather Goddesses ol Phobos £18.00
Mindlighter (8000s ONLY) £19.00
Matchday II (ALL PCWS) £12.00
Parisian Knights £18.00
Scrabble (ALL PCWS) £13.00
Strike Force Harrier £14.00
Slarghder (8000s ONLY) £17.00
Silicon Dreams (ALL PCWS) £12.00
Steve Davis Snooker (ALL PCWS) £11.00
The Pawn (ALL PCWS) £17.00
Time & Magik (ALL PCWS) £12.00
Tomahawk (ALL PCWS) £13.00
Telns (8000s ONLY) £14.00
Trivial Pursuits (8000s ONLY) £14.00
TELEPHONE ACTIONDESK
01-700-4004
10am - 8pm Mon - Sat
Cyca Limited. 287 Caledonian Road, London N1
Callers welcome by appointment
1EG.
All prices exclude carriage and VAT
8000
DUE TO UPGRADE MOUN-
TAINS OF PCW SOFTWARE
FOR SALE! Master Pack,
dBase II, Vidi, Rotate, Art Plus
Lightpen and much more.
Please call for complete list.
Tel: 0990 22658 or FAX 0990
873037.
for sale, £125 o.n.o.
Tel: Bracknell 0344 483867.
WORDPROCESSING
SERVICE
Margaret Nickolls.
8 Fisherton Island, Salisbury,
Wilts SP2 7TG Tel: 0722
25802
COMPLETE BUSINESS
PACKAGE
including FREE software
worth £60.00. Will sell for
£19.95. Send for details.
L Lowe, 2-3 George Street,
Llantrisant, Mid Glamorgan,
CF7 8EE.
DATA TRANSFERS:-
PCW-BBC-IBM. Details
(sae): MAPEJ (8), 32 Carew
Road, Mitcham CR4 2JH
Tel: 01-640 7676.
ATTENTION!! ALL PCW
9512 OWNERS
AmstradASF9512sheet
feeder is now available for
£99 inclusive. Only from
H.B.CTel: 0304 369313.
All major credit cards accept-
ed. We can also supply a
full fact sheet. For More
Details Call UsToday!!
WESTWIND COMPUTER
EDUCATION CENTRE
in Telford, Shropshire offers
courses and individual train-
ing on PCW's and PC's. 4-
hour course "Use the
Amstrad PCW" E40+VAT.
Tel: 0952 56573.
PCW SOFTWARE Cornix
Simple Accounts, Two £70,
Locoscript Two £15. Locofile
£20, Locospell £15. Write
Hand Man, Planit, Head Over
Heels, Distractions. Tomahawk,
£10 each, £150 Lot. Tel: 061
442 9350.
MOLESEY EDUCATION
Tel: 01-941 1364 PCW
8256/512 & 9512 Training.
Locoscript 1 & 2, Locofile,
Locomail etc. Qualified
experienced teachers. Will
travel to your home or office
weekdays/weekends, rea-
sonable rates, free after ser-
vice backup.
EPSON LX800 D.M.P. PRINT-
ER boxed as new, manufactur-
ers guarantee, with lead for
9512 or 8256/8512 with suit-
able interface. Genuine reason
PCW 8512 Very good condi-
tion, Master Scan, Stop Press.
20 disks, Margin Maker, Games
software. Cost over £800+.
any offers Tel: 01 508 3535
after 6pm.
PCW 8256 OR PCW 8512
WANTED SECONDHAND
could collect East Anglia area.
Tel: 05086 3772.
LEAGUE TABLES £24
COMPETITIONS FIXTURES
£24, both discs for £40.
PCW's. Send a s.a.e. for
details to Sportsoft, 16
Orchard Road, Bardsea,
Ulverston LA12 9QN
Tel: 0229 88517
I'M A PROFESSIONAL FILM
AND VIDEO WRITER/DIREC-
TOR, very proficient with Loco2
on 9512 but BASIC-ally totally
illiterate. Anyone in the 0256
area to swap expertise? Phone
Graham 0256 25610
LINDEX makes useful cata-
logue of disc of Locoscript files
with Identity Text block along-
side. Other features. Only £7.
Easy for Locoscript users - full
instructions. Details and sam-
ple of output Tel: 0274 613300.
FOR SALE Stop Press com-
plete £20, Divita Super Type
complete £10, Database DTP
complete £10. Ring first,
Bedford. Tel: 0234 742440.
Posted by return for money!
FREE!!
P.D. SOFTWARE
60 discs in library
Telephone: 0384 66269
for catalogue.
SMALL ADS RATES
Private ads cost £7.50 for up to 30 words. (This
rate only applies to readers wishing to sell their
own hardware or original software or to pass on
a message to other 8000 Plus readers)
All other ads are now classified as Trade
Advertisements and are charged at £1 per word.
(Max 30 words).
8000 Plus reserves the right to refuse any ad
which is deemed to be a Trade Advertisement
but which has been paid for as a Private Ad.
To place an ad just fill in this applicaUon
form and send it to us with the correct payment.
We will then place the ad in the next available
Issue (published 2-7 weeks after we receive your
order).
If you wish your address or telephone number
to be featured in your advert II must be includ-
ed in the grid below (one word per space).
Order form Send to: 8000 Plus Small Ads, Future Publishing, 4 Queen Street, Bath BA1 1EJ
Name
Please place the following advertisement in the next available issue of 8000 Plus
My advertisement is a Private/Trade* Advertisement and
I enclose payment for £ * delete as applicable
Address
I wish to pay by Cheque/Postal Order /Access/Visa
Credit card number
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Telephone—
neuae noovcr cut
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HEADERS
LocoScript 2
lin /SHAZ .Ml EdTCIHTtixfT
Lagout 1 Fii a LSI O W LP6
fl=Actions|
Printer idle. Using A:
1 line 1/5
Insert text
Disc manager
Run LocoFile
Show
Show
ihrases
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Headers are part ol Ihe lundamental set-up ol your document. To set up the pagination tew (LocoScript s posh word lot
headers and looters), you need to select Document setup from the |H| Actions menu. Don't forget, though, that this must be
the Actions menu that you can open from within Edit mode, not Ihe one you can access from the Disc Management Screen.
—.OUT* /SHAZ ,W1 Document setup,
ayout Pil2 LSI CR*0 LP6
flections f2=Layout f3=Stale f4=Size
f5=Pag
Printer idle. Using At HI
Page line ~/S
f6=Printing f7=Spell f8=Options EXIT
end of header 1 : used for all page;
end of footer 1 : used for all pages<
end of header 2 : used for no pages at all
end of footer 2 i used for no pages at all-
Once you've selected Document setup and pressed [ENTER], the rather strange-looking pagination screen will be displayed.
It's divided into four strips because LocoScript allows you to make use ol two sets ol pagination text il you so desire - one
header and looter lor odd-numbered pages and another header and footer for even-numbered ones.
fjBoiAJ (jritchiQj (CEntre)Qhe Bilgeuater Plumbers' Handbook
end of header 1 : used for all pages
end of footer 1 : used for all pages
end of header 2 : used for no pages at all'
end of footer 2 : used for no pages at all
For the moment, we ve plumped for the easier option, one neader for every page in the document. That means we only want
to use one set ol pagination text. Consequently we type it in in Ihe first space on Ihe screen, just above where it says end of
header t : used for all pages.' We've set the character pitch at 10 (from the |I4] Size menu), and boldened and centred the
heading (from the |I3] Style and [12] Layout menus respectively). When you've finished press [EXIT].
To use both sets ol pagination text - lor right and lefthand pages - go back to me pagination screen, and choose the |f5]
Page menu. Select Header/fooler options and you will see this settings menu displayed on your screen. Change the default
selection from all pages to odd pages. Press [ENTER] to conlirm your choice, then [EXIT] to return to the document.
Document setup,
CRtO LP6 Bold
le f4=Size fS=P
Printer idle. Using A: HT
Page line
(»PitchlO)(RAlign)
f header 1 : used fo
end of header 1 : used for odd pages
end of footer 1 : used for odd pages
(»Bold)[jhe Bilgeuater Plumbers' Handbook
■end of header 2 : used for even page;
(♦BoldjThe Bilgeuater Plumbers' Handbook
end of footer 2 : used for even pages
This is what the pagination screen will look like once you've decided to use different headers for odd- and even-numbered
pages. The original header is relegated to appear on all the 'odd' pages. Instead of centring it, you will probably prefer to
have it right justified. The second header will be used lor all the 'even' pages.
26 8000 PLUS September 89
SET
I
First of a new series in which
to look the part-
LocoScript remains the confirmed darling of many PCW
owners by simple virtue of the fact that all its special
style and layout features are simply and intuitively
accessed using the menu system.
Headers and Footers are special snippets of text - not
usually too long - that appear at the top and bottom of a
printed page. Apart from endowing each page in a multi-
page document with a 'sense of belonging' they also add a
touch of professionalism to the document's overall
appearance. They make your printout - whatever the subject
- look slick and business-like.
Using LocoScript 1 and 2, you can set up the text for
your headers and footers so that when the time comes to
print out your document - regardless of how many pages
there are - the program will automatically slot these special
pieces of text into each page.
Each page that you feed into your printer has three
separate zones: a small one at the top and bottom for the
header and footer respectively, and a much larger text zone
in the middle. By the time you've taken away the top and
bottom gap always left blank during printout, a standard A4-
size piece of paper has 61 lines available on which to print.
Three of these are then taken up, below the top gap, by the
header zone. The footer zone, above the bottom gap,
occupies another four.
This month let's take a look at how you would go about
setting up a simple header using first LocoScript 2 and then
LocoScript 1 . We will assume that you've already written and
saved your document as a normal file. Open it as usual,
whichever version you're running, using the [E] (for Edit) key.
LocoScript 2
In LocoScript 2, headers are decided through the Document
Set-up option. This presents you with a rather unusual
screen - the pagination screen. It's divided into four sections
because LocoScript allows you to have a maximum of two
sets of pagination text per document. The reasons for this
will become clear later on.
For the moment, all we're interested in is setting up a
header that is going to appear on every page of our
document. This means that we're only going to concern
ouselves with the very top strip, just above where it says
'end of header 1 : used for all pages'.
The Header we've chosen is a simple one-liner - and, in
most cases, it will be just that. Having said that, though,
there is nothing to stop you from having a multi-line header.
Your only limit is the size of the header zone: three lines. And
for the moment, we'd like to stick to that.
You can embellish this text in exactly the same way as
you would normal document text. It's up to you to experiment
with LocoScript's various style options. When you're happy
with the text you've typed in, press [EXIT]. You will then be
presented with a short menu offering a choice of two options.
Both of these take you back to your document without losing
any of the changes you've just made.
Ambidexterity
If you look at any professionally-produced book, magazine
or even pamphlet, you will notice that there is often a
difference between the layout of a righthand (odd-numbered)
page and a lefthand (even-numbered) one. Take a look at
the magazine you're reading now. The folio at the top of the
UP, JOE
Sharon Bradley shows you how
from top to bottom
page which describes what sort of an article it is we're reading
is positioned at the top, righthand edge of an odd-numbered
page and the top, lefthand edge of an even-numbered one.
Supposing we want to make this distinction with our headers
throughout The Bilgewater Plumbers' Handbook. To do this,
we effectively need to set up two headers for the document.
Back at the pagination screen, you should find your
original header - boldened and centred - waiting for you.
This, your first one, is the header that the program will
relegate to all your righthand (odd-numbered) pages.
Consequently, you don't want it centred anymore, but aligned
against the righthand edge of the page.
Move the cursor into the space just above where it says
'end of header 2: used for all even pages'. This is where you
are going to type in and store the layout details for your
second header. Type in 'The Bilgewater Plumbers' Handbook'
again, not forgetting that this header will be used only on
even-numbered and therefore lefthand pages. The text
naturally defaults to a left align position, so don't alter it. Just
bolden it for added emphasis.
The Header/footer options in the [f5] Page menu reveal
another menu featuring all the different applications to which
you can put your header text. Change the current selection
from all pages to odd pages. This ensures that header 1 will
only appear on odd-numbered (righthand) pages. Header 2
will automatically appear on lefthand pages alone.
LocoScript 1
Although starting from exactly the same point, producing the
same effect with LocoScript 1 requires a rather different
procedure and is far less intuitive. First of all, we need to call
up the Pagination menu. This menu will ask you to make a
decision now as to whether you're going to have the same
headers and footers for every page in your document, or
whether you want different layouts for odd and even-
numbered pages.
Select the Edit header option from within the [f7] Modes
menu. This will be visible at the top of the screen once you've
opened your document with the [E] key. Press [f7] for Options,
then [f8] to access the Pagination menu.
Once you've confirmed your choice, you will be presented
with the by now somewhat familiar pagination screen. Type in
the header in exactly the same way as we did with LocoScript
2; you can use all the same stylistic devices on your header
text that you would use in an ordinary document. The only
difference here is that they aren't accessed in quite the same
way. The [f3] Emphasis menu allows you to bolden or
underline text, while the [f4] Style menu takes care of the
pitch, width and height of the characters. The [f5] Lines menu,
meanwhile, will help you set up any justification or centring
that might be required.
First things last
You might want to give the first and last pages of your
document some special treatment. If your first page has a
large title on it already, then there wouldn't be much point
including a header on that page. Similarly, if you have used
'continued ...' as part of the footer text, it's going to look pretty
daft if it appears on the last page. LocoScripts 1 and 2 always
cater for such variations in taste; they are decided in
LocoScript 2's Header/footer options (Page menu) and
LocoScript 1's Pagination menu (Options menu). ■
HEADERS
LocoScript 1
The first thing you have to decide when setting up headers and foolers in LocoScript 1 is whether you want to have the
same text on every page ol the document or not. As in LocoScript 2. you have to start from within Edit document mode.
Open the [17] Modes menu and select Edit header. From there, open [17] Options and then |f8] Pagination.
sLETIERS/HEftDERSD.000 Editing header.
Pagination:
Printer idle. Using A: Mi
Tft-r-ninit-innM-ftH
First page nunber
All pages sane
First page differs
Last page differ s
■i'.r.«f;.if ■nm.tHfTM
First page
Header enabled
Footer enabled
Last page
Header enabled
Footer enabled
The Pagination menu is the equivalent ot LocoScript 2's Settings menu. Choices you made there have to De made here. II
you decide lo use both sets of pagination text, select Odd/even pages differ The first section allows you to specify ihe page
number of the first page, a uselul facility il you wanl to split a long document into several files.
rmS/HEnDERSD.
end of header 1 : used for odd pages
end of footer 1 : used for odd pages
end of header 2 : used for even pagesi
end of footer 2 : used for even pages.
As you can see, LocoScnpt fs pagination screen is identical to that of LocoScript 2. You will see this displayed either on
leaving File header editing or on selecting Edit header from the [f7] Modes menu. The lour line messages across the screen
tell you how the text typed in above them will be applied lo the document.
A:LITTmS/HEfTOJl5ra» Editing pagination.
-Layout tPilO -1S1 -LP6 Bold
fl=Shou f3=Enphasis f4=Stule fS=Lines
Printer idle. Using A: WT
Page line --
es f7=Options f 8=B l ocks
(tBold)OtJustr (♦PitchiOJDingiu. Dell Ramblers' Association
■end of header 1 : used for odd pages^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^™
■end of footer 1 : used for odd pages^^^—
(»Bold)Dmglg Dell Ranblers Association
■end of header 2 : used for even pages' —
end of footer 2 : used for even pages>
The pagination text can enjoy all LocoScript 1's usual embellishments. The [13] Emphasis menu lakes care of any bokJenlng
or underlining required, the |14] Style menu sets up the width, height and pitch ol the characters, while the [15] Lines menu
holds centring and justification details.
: LETTERS/HE ADEKSD. WO EdTCrhT payinatTon ,
ftiii -isi -iP6
old
Printer idle. Using A: HT
Page line — of S"
(♦Bold) (RJustj ' ' ('Bold) (*Pitchi6JDingig be
nd of header 1 : used for odd pages
>nd of footer 1 : used for odd pages
(tBold)(tPitchlO)Diiiglg Dell Ranblers' Associati
end of header 2 : used for even pages.
.end of footer 2 : used for even pages
Exit pagination editing;
yairTM^f ^LiiirHTTi^fl—
Recover old pagination
Enptu pagination text
Abandon edit altogether
The EXIT menu goes on to give you four cno.ces the first one ot which is likely to be your most common. In both LocoScript
I and 2. the headers that you set up at the pagination screen will remain invisible to you when editing your document. They
will only appear on pnntout
September 89 8000 PLUS 27
JOIN THE CLUB!
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MAXELL CF2 3" DISK 1.89 each
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CHECK ACCOUNT TWO
£14.95 • Molesoft« 0372 275053
For those of you out there who like to keep day-to-day tabs on
your money Check Account Two (the upgraded version of
Check Account which was first reviewed in July '88) might be
just the program you're looking for.
Molesoft designed the program specifically to help you
manage your personal, household accounts, and, as such,
there is absolutely no mention of double entry book-keeping or
VAT returns.
It will, however, allow you to monitor the ins and outs of up
to four different accounts per disc. These could be a joint
account, your own personal account, a savings account and
so on; it's up to you.
Once you've specified at the opening menu which account
you'd like either to examine or amend, an Options menu
appears on the screen. This menu and its choices are
identical regardless of which account you're in' and supplies
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manage your money.
Through the Options menu, you can make withdrawals
and deposits, and even have an analysis of the account
displayed on the screen. As well as showing its current state,
this option also shows both the minimum and maximum
figures to which the balance has either plummeted or soared
in current and previous months. The program also marks the
passing of time in looking at last month's spending levels and
carrying them forward into the next month. It's comforting to
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Check Account Two differs from many programs of its ilk
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on your overdraft (that's more like it). The program also
handles tiered interest rate accounts where interest paid
depends on how much has been deposited; there are seven
EASI-ACCOUNTS SYSTEM
£23.95 • Arctan Computer Ventures •
1 Foxwell Square, Southfields,
Northampton NN3 5AT
EAS is another PCW-based accounts package which has
been designed to satisfy either the needs of the small
business-man or those of the very organised person who
likes to keep track of personal expenditure. The program
will conceivably take care of both requirements at the same
time, although this isn't a recommended course of action.
EAS's trump-card lies in its speed. The program is
memory-resident which means that it doesn't occupy any
part of the RAM disc. Consequently, accessing different parts
of the program takes a barely perceptible amount of time: its
creators claim that many of its features work much faster
than similar ones on other programs.
The program works on the age-old system of ledgers,
each ledger comprising lots of single entries with each entry
representing a transaction. Up to 500 entries may be made
per ledger. You can have up to 99 of what the program calls
'groups' in one ledger. These are just a series of
classifications into which every transaction should slot;
Salary, Mortgage, Food and Drink, Car - to name but a few.
The ledger itself can easily be edited and manipulated
to suit your own requirements. You can, for instance, sort
each entry into a suitable order: according to year, month,
date, transaction description and so on. The program's
Import facility allows you to insert a ledger that has been
stored to disc into the ledger that you are currently using.
Chequing out? Then you need to check in here.
interest levels. Each time you boot up. the appropriate
information is updated.
One of the main differences between Check Account
Two and its forerunner is its ability to cater for a maximum of
111 standing order transactions a year - into or out of the
account in question. These can be yearly, quarterly, monthly
or even transactions that take place only ten months a year.
Check Account Two's screen displays operate on a
LocoScript-style pull-down menu system and, while busily
The familiar style of the pull down menu system makes this an easy program to use.
informative, are confidence-
boosting and easy to read.
For the minimally-organised
person who wonders from
time to time exactly where
his or her money is going,
this friendly little package
will be ideal. I
RANGE OF FEATURES 5
EASE OF USE 5
PERFORMANCE 4
DOCUMENTATION 3
8000 PLUS VALUE VERDICT 4
EAS also provides flexible and potentially powerful List
and Search facilities. You can select which entries in the
ledger you would like to see listed together by marking them
with a dot. By making further use of grouping coding
systems, which would be included in the transaction detail
box, you could pin-point all entries falling into various
category combinations and save them to a ledger of their
own - a facility that would come in handy when the time
comes to produce those end-of-year reports.
Another use would be for cheques that have been sent
but which remain uncleared. When you enter the transaction
details into the ledger, you could put a code in the
description meaning unreconciled' (which basically means
that you've written a cheque which hasn't been cleared yet).
You could then list them all together, compare them with a
statement at a later date, and easily ascertain to what extent
the ledger reflects the true state of affairs.
The manual assumes you know nothing about
accounting and is. on the whole, well-written. The tone of
the instruction is both patient and friendly - sometimes at
the risk of stating the obvious. Page 3 informs the user, for
instance, that the date is used for documenting on what
day a transaction actually took place.' No kidding, Sherlock?
EAS is competent and
efficient and delivers exactly
what it promises; it has to be
said, though, that the person
who uses this program for
his or her own personal, non-
business use would have to
be very organised indeed. ■
RANGE OF USE 3
EASE OF USE 3
PERFORMANCE 4
DOCUMENTATION 3
8000 PLUS VALUE VERDICT 3
8000PLUSsepleml*.89 29
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3g»W>Vjg
WORDPRCESSSING
Protex £33.00
Locoscript2 £20.00
Locoscript 2 with Locospell2 £27.00
Locospell 2 £16.00
Locomail 1& 2 £25.00
Locofontl £16.00
Locofont 2 £12.00
Locofile £25.00
New-Word II £42.00
GENERAL
Mini Office Professional PLUS £27.00
(9512 & Dual Drive 8000 Series)
Sage Chit Chat £69.00
Sage Chit Chat with Linnet Modem.... £205.00
Easy Labeller £21.00
Rotate £16.00
AMX Mouse & Desktop Utilities £47.00
ALL PRICES
EXCLUDE VAT
FREE DELIVERY
(UK MAINLAND)
DISK STORAGE BOXES
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AMS 101 (each)
£5.50
AMS10L (x2)
£10.00
AMS10L(x3)
£13.00
AMS 301 (each)
£11.50
MARGIN MAKER
Single sheet guide for the PCW 8256
9512 SINGLE SHEET GUIDE
Sturdy aluminium and perspex construction.
RSC SPECIAL PRICE
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NEW ASF95 12 SHEET FEEDER
EDUCATIONAL CORPORATE, OR VOLUME PURCHASERS PLEASE CALL FOR ASSISTANCE
Telephone: (0923) 243301
(24 hours)
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At last, a quality sheet feeder for the Amstrod 9512.
A voluble addition to your 9512 printer.
Includes modified software.
RSC SPECIAL I NTRODUCTORY PRICE £75.0
FD4 (1Mb Drive) £115.00
(Second Disk Drive for the 8256/9512)
Amshad RS232 Centronics Interface £45.00
PCW 8256/8512 Memory Upgrade £P.0.A
RSC PCW Printer/Power Extension 8256/8512 £1 1.00
9512 Printer Extension £9.00
ALL PRICES EXCLUDE VAT
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4-WAY MAINS MULTI-SOCKET
RSCE21 A KEYBOARD
STORAGE DRAW
4 Way trains distribution socket. With boilMn attests to give full protection
from mains borne spies ond surges - El 5.00
Spike protected plug £9.50
PCW RIBBONS
ANTI-STATIC MATS
Min order ?'s
QF2
QI5
01 10 (or more)
PCW Multistrike Ribbons _.,.
PCW Cotour Ritas (Bkre/Brown/Red/Gceen) ....
Ribbons available lot most olfiet printers.
£4.00 each
£3.50 each
£3.00 each
-£5.00 each
£5.00 eoch
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PRINTER PAPER
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...£3.35 eoch
...£3.15 eoch
....£3.00 eoch
RSC M02 Anti-Static Mouse Mat
280 < 2 1 1 4mm fully formed when connected.
RSC M03 Anti-Stork Keyboard Mat _
595 1 250 1 4mm fully Earthed when connected.
RSC AH)4 Anti-Stork PC Mat
£6.95
£8.95
..£14.95
80 Column feting poper pet boi
irx9.5'l Partita 60
1 1" x 9.5- 1 Port Plain 80
ll'X 9.5" 2 Pott NCR 1.000.
A4 I Part Plain /Ogms 2,000.
A41 Port Plain 90gms 1,500.
|ms 2,0
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£13.50
£19.00
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RSC TOP 10 GAMES
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*&£#£; 9512 Colour Ribbons
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Batman
Scrabble
Itiviol Putsuits .
PCW DASIYWHEELS
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AMSTRAD PCW PRINTER
MAINTENANCE KIT
..£5.25 eoch
STANDARD PRINTERS & THE PCW
RS232Centronkslnterfoce-Connect the 8256/8512 toany standard printer, orosttie9512
already has this facility built-in, connect the 9512 to Communications peripherals.
RSC Special Offer - - £45.00
RSC CA4 Cable llnterfoce to Parallel Printer £8.00
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B»5«« Courier 10 Script 120 rotor 10
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iftft-tf \ Some available in French £ German ot _...£9.50 each
£\i\^\-\ for 8256/8512, removes dirT ond ink deposits to maintain mo«imum
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lomirahawk
Match Day II
Steve Davis Snooker
Time & Magic
Brain dough's football .
Colusses Chess
Colusses Bridge
£10.00
£12.00
£12.00
£13.00
£10.00
£12.00
£10.00
£10.00
£12.00
£12.00
1 32 Column feting paper per bo«
1 1" x 14.5' 1 Pott Ptoin 60gms 2.000 .
11"«14.5M Port M/Jule60gms 2.001
..£17.00
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BOOKS - VAT FREE
Mollord Basic - Amstrod £9.95
Program Your PCW • Sad* £7.95
- £4.95
LABELS
1,0001 Across..
2,000 2 Across..
..£6.00
..£8.45
LASER LABELS
2.000 2 Across „„_ £13.50
3,000 3 Across £13.50
LX400 _
FX850 _
EX1000 ...
LQ550 _
LQ1050 .
EPSON
. £135.00 1X850 ._
. £305.00 FX1050 .
.£565.00 LQ400.
.£265.00 IQ850.
LQ1060 (Colour).
LC10
LC24-10 .
FRIO —
XB24-I0 .
P2200.
P7-. ._.
KX-P1180-.
KX-P1540 ...
DMP3250..
LQ3500
JUKI 6300..
£565.00 IQ860 |Colour) ...
£665.00 IQ2550 (Colour) .
STAR
£155.00 LClOICoM —
£260.00 NX15
£310.00 FR15
...£410.00 XB24-15
NEC
£265.00 P6+ ,
£545.00
PANASONIC
£165.00 KX-P1124
£269.00
AMSTRAD
£110.00 DMP4000
£219.00 IQ50000I
DAISY WHEEL PRINTERS
£445.00 JUKI 6500
.. £180.00
. £399.00
. £189.00
. £425.00
. £529.00
. £925.00
. £189.00
. £265.00
- £410.00
. £530.00
. £429.00
. £269.00
. £199.00
. £299.00
£699.00
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Step by Step Guide to locoscript _
Al in One Mini Office Professional
Desktop Publishing with the Amstrod PCW ..
locoscript 2 - Sindoir
£11.95
£9.50
- _ £9.95
locoscript 2 S Amstrod PCW • Hughs
locoscript/Mail/Spell ■ Brodsbow
£11.95
£7.95
3" DISK DRIVE HEAD CLEANER
Ihe Clear Heod.
RSC OFFICE &
COMPUTER FURNITURE
RSC T-2001 Computer Workstation (Ideal for IAN)
RSC T-l 68AB Vertical Computer Workstation (Grey)
EDUCATIONAL, CORPORATE, OR VOLUME PURCHASERS PLEASE CALL FOR ASSISTANCE
RSC Limited, 75 Queens Road, Watford, WD1 2QN.
Fox: (0923) 37946 Telex: 265871
Callers Welcome
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£99.1
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Easy to
understand!
Easy to use!
DOWN TO EARTH SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR PCW BOOK-KEEPING PROBLEMS
All systems offer full, versatile, high volume, complete book-keeping with Nominal Sales and Purchase Ledgers, statements, payment advices, aged
balances, up to 500 Nominal ledger analysis codes, multiple coding of prime entries, easy view access, random or sequential, to any ledger account.
twin bank accounts, all necessary VAT Information. Optional formals. with or without narrative
BOOK-KEEPING AND ACCOUNTS
• 3 ledger Module system
• Facility to use up to 3 dala discs
• Unusual postings eg Bank Payment to Sales Ledger as single posting
• Up to 999 each Sales and Bought Ledger accounts
• Optional historic mode
• Trial balance split between capllal and revenue permits profil or loss
assessment at trial balance level
Version 1 - Book-keeping only £69.00 inc P&P
Version 2 - with integrated invoicing £80.50 inc P&P
Version 3 - with invoicing and stocks £92.00 inc P&P
" Vie liest system for the 9512" Chartered Accountant
" Easy to understand and operate" Book -keeper
INDEPENDENT INVOICING £29.00
A very versatile system offering Ihree means of producing |nc P&P
Invoices, catalogue based and two freestyle types. Invoice
summaries and analyses including VAT information.
Based on A4 paper and 80 columns
STOCKS/INVOICING £34.50
The same Invoicing system plus stock records for sale goods. inc P&P
at three levels: simple, simple plus dues In. simple plus dues
In and out. Employs a register of entries and creates a Slock Ledger plus
summary and evaluation of stocks on hand.
GOLF HANDICAP RECORDS AND REVISIONS £29.00
A complete Implementation of the Standard Scratch Score and inc P&P
Handicapping Scheme (1983) as amended (Male onlyl Created
in response to popular demand. Quick, simple and cffeclive.
CLUB ACCOUNTS
I Similar to Book-keeping and Accounts
£69.00
inc P&P
i Members ledger and journal
I Deals quickly and effectively with annual subscriptions
i Includes Bar Takings control
" A gem of a system. Three alternative quotes for a system to
do the job were each over £5000" Financial Advisor
"Ideal for the job Golf Club Secretary
DDE ACCOUNTS (DIRECT DOUBLE ENTRY! £69.00
I Single module system means freedom to post to i m . p&p
any account from any source
I Allows narrative in nominal ledger
I Speeds up and simplifies operation
"J'd recommend II to anyone" Chartered Accounfcinl
INDEPENDENT STOCK RECORDS £29.00
An all-purpose comprehensive system offering, an inc PAP
Immediate view FIFO based Slock Ledger, showing,
base and selling prices, balances on hand al cost prices. Dues In.
Dues Out. Re-order level. Re-order signal and calculation, plus
priced analysis of issues and a complete stock list with valuation at
cost prices, A sure winner.
BAR TAKINGS CONTROL
A simple means of exercising
control over takings from a bar or kiosk
£23.00
inc P&P
TELEPHONE HELPLINE DIRECT TO AUTHOR - JUST ASK FOR GEORGE CLOUGH.
GENUINE AFTER SALES ADVICE LINE AND SERVICE
MANX TAPES, GAREY VEG, GLEN AULDYN, RAMSEY, ISLE OF MAN.
TELEPHONE (0624) 813071
ADVANTAGE
• PRICES INCLUDE VAT & FIRST CLASS POSTAGE
• YOUR ORDER WILL BE PROCESSED WITHIN 24 HOURS
• WE GIVE A REFUND IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED
LOW LOW PRICES
ALL INCLUDING VAT AND FIRST CLASS POSTAGE IN EC COUNTRIES
These discs contain a vanety ol soltware which has been
Iried and tested on PCW computers Each Includes easy
start-up programs and instructions.
WORD-SPREAD-BASES
VDE TEXT EDITOR • £5.95 A powerful Wordstar-like editor
with full block operations, windowing, automatic horizontal
scroll (line length up to 255 characters), macro (unctions.
word-wrap and formatting, pagination find/replace, pagination,
undelete and many user options
SPREADSHEET - £5.95 For home accounts, mortgage
repayments, business transactions workspace of 60 rows by
26 columns, menu-driven command entry, enter text, numeric
value or calculation Prim facility.
DATABASE - £5.95 A Small relational database for storing data
and producing reports. Uses free format query language with
Macros and commands plus on-line help Also contains a useful
Inventory Database.
KEYBASE II - £5.95 Menu-driven database originally released
commercially Shareware version limited to 15 fields and 128
records out of 32000 More than enough to set up a simple
database "Keybase is well designed, simple to use and it works
Particularly well-suited for cataloguing collections' - 8000 plus.
HOME AND BUSINESS
PCW DESKMASTER - 5.95 Desk-top appointments calendar,
calculator, memo-writer, card-file database, label printer.
home accounts program, mortgage calculator, weather
forecaster plus Unerase for PCW M drive.
COMMUNICATIONS - £5.95 for data transfer between
computers (local and remote), access to databases, bulletin
boards, Viewdata, Preslel. UK Modem7. New Kermit, MEX
and vnnous communications utilities.
VIDEO CLERK • £5.95 Keep track of your video collection
With four Sort options and Forms Management System for
printing out the data in order of title number, Video number
global alphabetical or unique.
FIXED ASSETS LOG - £5.95 Record your assets and their
value eg record how much money you spend on your
computer or the value of a stamp collection etc. It can also be
used as a simple stock-taking program.
PCW GRAPHICS - £5.95 PCW- DRAW is a simple graphics
drawing program - Plot lines, points, boxes, four fill patterns.
BIO-MORPH • fascinating graphic demonstration of natural
selection. README - program to display any ASCII text file in
45 character format on the PCW screen.
STD CODEBOOK - £5.95 Text files containing lists of all the
UK STD codes and corresponding exchange names. Listed in
numeric order of STD codes and alphabetical order of exchanges
LETAFONT - £5.95 Instead of using the same boring old font
on your PCW here's a wide variety of fonts from old English
through to modern, ttalic and chunky, lo army and data set.
See the fonts ON SCREEN before printing them You can
also alter any of the 16 fonts provided using the LETA-EDIT
program - design your own character set'
COMPLEAT UTILITIES- £5.95 NSWP Newsweep • one key
erase, copy rename and print plus many other features.
SUPERZAP Disc sector editor. DISKITA disc formatter, offers
178K data format and 5 1 '4* second drive formatting MAKE.
CLEANUP. LOOKAT. UNERASE. DIRECTORY CHECK,
SCREEN DUMP. FILE SPLITTER, PASSWORD
PROTECTION. FILE SCRAMBLER.
TEXT PROCESSING UTILITIES - £5.95 Print file (eg
Spreadsheet) SIDEWAYS. ALPHABETIC SORT. WORD
COUNT, WSCLEAN. CALENDAR GENERATOR. SPELLING
CHECKER, SCORING CARD Generator. BANNER Printers,
TYPEWRITER EMULATOR.
DISC ORGANISATION -£5.95 CATALOGUE your discs. LU
LIBRARY UTILITIES lor archiving, MENU SYSTEM. FILE
DATING system ' SQUEEZE and UNSQUEEZE.
PROGRAMMING
THE ZBO PHOGRAHMtH - £5.95 A complete Z80
Assembler which can convert an assembler tile into a fully
executable machine code. COM program Includes ZBO
Disassembler, Z80 Debugger, ZBO Library, 8080
Disassembler, ZBO lo 8080 Translator and associated utilities
THE C PROGRAMMER - £5.95 C lor yoursell what C
programming is like. A practical and useable version of C
which produces executable COM programs The disc
includes source code and 25K of documentation.
C TOOLBOX - £5.95 See some practical examples of C at
work with this disc full of C source code examples. Each
program is accompanied by the corresponding executable
COM programs.
6PROLOG - 80 £5.95 This public domain interpreter offers a
fascinating introduction to the world ol Artificial Intelligence
JRT-PASCAL (2 discs) £10.95 A completely operational
Pascal compiler with comprehensive documentation and
sample programs.
PROGRAMS FOR PLEASURE
GAMES COMPENDIUM - £5.95 A popular selection of the
best games for CP/M. Pacman, Snake. Chess. Othello,
Mastermind. Spellit. Awari. Life. Golf, Polish Pong, Maze.
Biorhythms, Word Search Puzzle Maker. TicTacTo
ADVENTURES - £5.95 The famous Colossal Cave
Adventure which originated on main frame computers now
available on the PCW Features game save and re-load. Plus
BESTIARY and RETURN TO ARC
AMUSEMENTS AND DIVERSIONS - £5.95 29 games for
Mallard BASIC; Startrek, Lunar Lander. Merchant. Trade.
Boggle. Baseball. Horse Racing. Civil War, Craps. Baccarat.
Hunt the Wumpus. Chase. Swarms Quest. Blackjack, Square.
American Football, Queen, Crazy • 8. Hangman 1-3, Spies.
Nim, Dots, Dragrace, Pilot. Strobe. Three-D Noughts &
Crosses and Homonyms
FOUR ADVENTURE GAMES • £5.95 Four Cult games from
Nemesis Challenging and entertaining: The Trial of Arnold
Blackwood. Arnold Goes To Somewhere Else, The Wise And
Fool of Arnold Blackwood, Brawn Free.
TRIVIA QUIZ • £5.95 Multi-choice game with graphics and
sound, competitive scoring and plenty of questions
Gameplay is easy lo understand and each round is short
enough to maintain interest. Hundreds of questions
"Guaranteed completely tnvial" - 8000 Plus
HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGES
MIX C COMPILER £33.95
Hundreds ol satisfied users agree that this is the best floating
point C compiler lor the PCW The package includes a
comprehensive manual and tutorial
MIX SPLIT SCREEN TEXT EDITOR £19.95
Wordstar similar functions for editing source code
MIX ASM UTILITY for integrating MASM80 £10.95
MIX TUTORIAL EXAMPLES Save your typing' £5.95
MIX GRAPHICS LIBRARY with full source code £10 95
"THE WORKS' .nciudmq all the apove items £59.95
NEVADA COBOL One step compile & run Fast commercial
business programming on your PCW. With manual .. £33 95
NEVADA PASCAL Sequential indexed file 10 One Step
compile & run with trace style debugging and manual
■ SPECIAL OFFER -WHILE STOCKS LAST - £15.95
NEVADA FORTRAN ANSI X3 9-1966 Fortran IV Generates
object code modules just compile & run With Manual.
• SPECIAL OFFER WHILE STOCKS LAST - £15.95 ■
HISOFT C Compiler with graphics library ... £-14 95
HISOFT PASCAL 80 Extensive implementation £44.95
HISOFT FORTH with GSX graphics £19 95
FTL MODULA 2 A powerful new language £49 95
FTL Advanced Programmers Toolkit £34.95
HISOFT DEVPAC V2 Assembly language tool £44.95
Hi SOFT KNIFE PLUS Disc Editor & File Recovery .. £19.95
Serial Interface* Parallel Printer Pod Unil £49.95
ADVANTAGE
» COMPUTERS • SOFTWARE • TRAINING • SUPPORT*
We accept Sterling cheques, Eurocheques, Postal Orders,
Access and Visa Non-EC countries please add £3 per order
ADVANTAGE - by post - 56 BATH ROAD CHELTENHAM GL53 7HJ
- by telephone - 0242 224340 or 0242 224848
COME AND VISIT OUR NEW SHOWROOM
PUBLIC DOMAIN
BRING IT ALL BACK
Peter Stephenson goes down on his disc among the bits and bytes
No matter how careful a person might
be, sooner or later a crucial file will
inadvertently be erased. The file will
usually be in the final stages of
completion and without a back-up.
Strange as it may seem, while CP/M
has a quick method of erasing a file
using the ERA command, it doesn't
provide a means of reversing the
procedure. Fortunately, the public
domain offers a program with the
power to put things right.
Despite the fact that a file on disc can be
almost anywhere at all and even broken up
into a number of separate pieces, CP/M can
still find it again using the disc directory. The
directory is always in the same place on the disc so
CP/M knows where to find it. It contains information
on the locations for all the parts of the file.
When a file is erased, the first byte on the file's
entry in the disc directory is changed to E5 hex,
indicating that the space occupied by the file may be
used to store other data. The actual file itself
remains intact on the disc until the space it occupies
is written over by another file. Until such times
however, the file can be recovered by making an
appropriate change to the directory; that is by
changing the E5 back to 00.
For clarification, the first byte in the directory
signifies which group the file is stored in. Under
CP/M, your files would normally be in Group so
the byte would be 00, but it could be any number
from 00 to OF (zero to fifteen decimal). Altering the
00 to a 01 or another legal number (between 00
and OF hex) would move the file into a different
user group.
There are many good commercial disc editors
around that allow you to do this; the only
disadvantage being they all cost money. In the anti-
capitalist world of public domain, disc editors of high
standard can easily be found. Probably the best,
and the one that springs to mind first, is
SUPERZAP.COM.
Superzap is a menu-driven disc editor allowing
you to actually read and alter the bits and bytes
stored upon your discs. This can be extremely
handy in those situations where the PCW
steadfastly refuses to do anything else except say
'A; track sector 1 missing address mark - Retry,
Ignore or Cancel'. Like all other CP/M programs, it is
called from the A> prompt. On loading it gives you a
menu of the available instructions. It's probably a
good idea to practise on a copy of a disc made
especially for practice purposes as a disc sector
editor offers an awful lot of possibilities for data
damage as well as disc repair. ■
version j.
tH Cursor left
tL Cursor right
tK Cursor up
tJ Cursor down
Edit file
CPU .836
CSPROTXT.SCR
LOCODfllE.SCR
SC283S .SCR
P Previous directory page
N Next directory page
U Change user nunber
1 Exit fron Superzap
C Change disk
S Select track/sector
H Set directory selection
T Type file
Directory list - A :????????.???
CPH .BAK CPM3S3 .SCR CSHOONSI . SCR
CSSIOP .SCR K .SCR LOCODASH.SCR
MINI13S .SCR MINI23S .SCR 0PENM835 . SCR
SUPER! .SCR SUPERB .SCR
Leaving aside ihe Edit commands lor a moment, most oi the other options on the menu are self-explanatory. C lor example
allows you to swap discs to your heart's content, while by typing U you can step through different user groups. S is the really
important one for it drops you into the lollowing menu Irom which you can unerase files from the directory
Next sector
Previous sector
I Next track
] Previous track
Scratchpad :- Enpty
T Select track
S Select sector
B Select block
D Select drive
Z Exit fron Superzap
L Exit to file list
X Scratchpad operations
C Change sector
Select Function —=>
Current-Track
0001
000 ©0 S3 SS SO
010 04 00 OS 00
020 00 S3 SS SO
030 0C 00 0D 00
040 ES S3 SS SO
OSO 16 00 17 00
060 21 12 07 00
070 00 00 00 00
Current-Sector Current-Block
0000 0000
Current-Drive
45 52 31 20 20 S3 43 52 00 00 00 80 I.SUPER1 SCR...
06 00 07 00 08 00 09 00 0A 00 0B 00 I
45 52 3120 20 S3 43 52 01 00 00 35 I.SUPER1 SCR... si
14 00 IS 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 I I
45 S2 32 20 20 53 43 52 00 00 00 80 ISSUPER2 SCR...
18 00 19 00 25 00 26 00 27 00 28 00 I X.S.'.CI
05 15 07 16 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 I ! |
00 12 07 00 07 IS 07 16 16 00 00 00 I I
II you look closely at the mass ol numbers, you will soon discover that one of the files has been erased. As mentioned earlier, dunng
erasure all that happens is ihe first byte, 00, gets replaced by E5 in the directory and so, in the above example, the file SUPER2.SCR
is in fact an erased file. To unerase it, just type C for change sector, and yet another menu will be displayed.
tH Cursor left
tK Cursor up
fl Change Side
t0 Cancel changes
Current-Track
0001
W0 00 S3 SS 50
510 04 00 05 00
020 00 S3 SS SO
1)30 0C 00 0D 00
040 00 $3 55 50
OSO 16 00 17 00
960 21 12 07 00
570 00 00 00 00
Current-Sector
0000
tL Cursor right
tJ Cursor down
CR Neu Line
tZ Save Changes
Current-Block
0000
Current-Drive
A
45 52 31 20 20 S3 43 S2 00 00 00 80 I.SUPER1 SCR.
06 00 07 00 08 00 09 00 0A 00 0B 00 I
45 52 31 20 20S3 43S2 0100 00 35 I.SUPER1 SCR.
14 00 IS 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 I
45 52 32 20 20 53 43 52 00 00 00 80 I .SUPERS SCR.
18 00 19 00 25 00 26 00 27 00 28 00 I /..«,'
05 15 07 16 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 I !
00 12 07 00 07 IS 07 16 16 00 00 00 I
All other information thai was on ihe screen in menu 2 will remain the same, but on this screen the cursor will be positioned over
the first byte of the directory, in this case the E ol E5. Altering both the E and 5 to 0. the next step is to press TZ to save the
changes, a procedure which automatically returns you to the previous menu and screen. With that, the deed is done.
BIRTHDAY
NOW WR A
A chance to peer behind the scenes and catch us intl
At last the story can be told: how 8000 Plus goes from being no more
than a few ideas scribbled on a beer mat to its final presentation on the
shelves. The premier magazine for PCW owners everywhere is
produced in just a month and is a piece of legerdemain we've been
performing for three fraught years now. This is the story of how men
and women, armed with no more than a state of the art word processor,
ke the computer magazine market by storm - er, heavy downpour.
18
Treadmills
Perhaps Ihs mosl exciting, and
most wearing, aspect ol magazine
production is the need to get one
out every month. Despite endless
entreaties from tired and emotional
journalists, publishers consistently
refuse to entertain any discussion
of an 11 issue year. Clearly, having
a month without an issue, say July
or August, would give us all a
chance to catch up on our
sleeping/eating/correspondence or
whatever. Write in now supporting
this move.
As readers who have been with us since the beginning
will have noticed, the staff may change but the
magazine just goes on getting better and better. Of
I course, those of us who joined the magazine later
have the benefit of the earlier incumbents' experience, and
we therefore find it much easier to get things right. So. on
the occasion of our third birthday, instead of an in-depth
expose of the public lives of the 8000 Plus journalists and
their endless carefree carousing, we thought you might like
to know a little about the magazine production process here
in the throbbing heart of the Future Publishing empire.
Magazines are composed of several disparate elements.
The main ones in 8000 Plus are the editorial content, articles
like this one, the Special Offers pages, which are Future's
own merchandising arm, and the advertisement pages,
which help to keep all the other bits separate. Getting the
magazine out on time involves all these parts coming
together at the right time.
The longest gestation period is for features and reviews.
Because of the need to ensure editorial material comes in
steadily, so that it can be processed by the art department,
some material will actually be in the office months ahead of
publication (that's why you haven't been paid). Basically the
equation is that the sooner we get it in the better we can
Speakeasy
Persuading computers to talk to each other is fundamental to
a publishing company that deals in several titles as well
as typesetting on Macs. Fundamentally, we only ever
used to send Ascil files to the Mac (and back again).
Even our screen shots were converted into something
that looked very like the files HEXCOM works with
(which are pure Ascii files). However, lately we've
needed to send true binary files for screen shots in
order to work with
Ihem in Quark.
U The PCW and
our Mac are conn-
ected via the PCW
RS232 and the Mac
RS422. We use PMS Comm-
unication's Dialup on the PCW but used to use a public domain
comms program on the Mac called Red Ryder; this unfortunately
began to fall over on us. Now we use the comms module from
Microsoft Works. The protocol we use is Xmodem, eight bits, no
parity, one stop bit. For the benefit of anyone who would like to
know, these are the cable connections that we use for our
transfers from PCW to Apple Macintosh.
MAC
PCW
RS422
RS232
1
2
3
E
4
3
5
7
6
2
7
8
20
present it. Inevitably some material intended for a particular
issue will get pushed out due to time problems, budget
constraints or simply the arrival of better material; we try to
bring you the best we can get.
Some parts of the magazine, like Special Offers, aren't
under editorial control at all, but come under the auspices ol
the Marketing Manager. The art department prepare them in
consultation with her and we're lucky if they even let us
proof-read them.
The last major area is advertising, which works quite
differently and independently from us. Whereas we like to
get material in as early as possible, advertisers delight in
leaving the sending-in of their material until the last
possible moment.
Have you got a light Mac?
Yes. in fact all the Macintosh computers are that funny
colour. Every magazine at Future Publishing is produced
using the latest desktop publishing techniques, but they
don't start there; we actually use PCWs in the office. As
contributors will know we always ask for articles as Ascii
files on three inch discs. These are read into Protext on our
PCWs where any necessary editing is done. Naturally, we
write all our own material on PCWs. In a remarkable show
of solidarity we all actually own one for home use as well.
Thanks to the efforts of one of 8000's previous editors,
Ben Taylor, we can do more than just edit files. Using the
[EXTRAjx sequence that allows you to put in printer codes
in Protext, we can incorporate formatting codes for
typesetting. For example the code pf24 is used to set the
straplines beneath our titles to the right size and typeface in
each article.
Thanks to Ben and Andy Wilton (who wrote Flipper), we
can do something else rather clever as well. Rather than
having to photograph the screen for illustrations of how
programs should look, we can take a screen image directly
from memory and write it to a tile.
Once written, we then have to get these articles (and
any associated screen shots) onto the Macs. But before
we do this, all those codes we put in have to be made
into something else. We have a program on the PCW,
written by Ben Taylor again, that takes our marked up
text and changes it, replacing the sensible codes we
used with incomprehensible ones, for reasons that will
become clear. Finally we're ready to move it across,
and naturally, this involves comms. What we have is a
simple lead connecting the RS232 on the PCW interface
to the RS422 on the Mac (an RS422 is just like an
RS232 but with most of the lines missing to make
everything easier).
F. R TH liEE
I process of preparing your favourite PCW magazine
Since we're dealing in software here actually getting the
text onto the Mac is only the first stage. All the text then has
to be run through a program called Makewrite; that takes the
incomprehensible codes put in on the PCW and turns them
into sensible codes that Macwrite can understand. With the
text in Macwrite we do any final subbing required.
Turning the page
At this point we've nearly finished the first stage, and all that
remains to do is to pour all the finished text into a simple
page design in our desktop publishing software on the Mac,
Quark Express. Now we mark up the text, which simply
means getting all the body text, margin notes, captions,
cross heads and titles to the right font and point size, on the
right leading and in the right style (bold, italic and so on).
This rarely takes more than an hour or so.
The marked-up article and any screen shots are then
put on a disc and go with all other material to the art
department where Julie Barnes, our Art Editor, will attempt
to turn it into an attractive page for the magazine, a highly
skilled and often underrated job. Using Quark Express
again, she will lay out the text and create boxes for pictures
and illustrations on the screen. She also has yet another
program (written by the ubiquitous Ben Taylor) which turns
the screen shot file into a file that Quark Express can
incorporate into a document. This means that Julie can
actually work with a picture of a PCW screen on her Mac
screen, resizing it, cropping it and relocating it to her
heart's content.
Once Julie has the page pretty much how she wants it
to look she sends it to a laserprinter and we all get a look.
It's at this stage that she will ask for text to be either added
to this bit or taken out of that bit to make it look right, which
we do instantly and without a murmur. And of course there
are all those typos to put in, grammatical errors to add and
punctuation to get wrong; this is the stage at which we add
all these special extras.
Colour separates
If you look carefully at the pages of 8000 Plus (as you
always do) you'll see that some are just black and white,
some have colour photographs on and some just have flat
areas of colour (coloured borders, words, lines and so on).
These pages are treated slightly differently.
Once made up on the Mac and the final laserproofs
approved, the pages are sent down yet another cable
from the Mac to a Linotron as Postscript files, which is a
page description language. A Postscript file is a bit like
an enormous listing, which the computer in the Linotron
can interpret. The Linotron does exactly what the listing
tells it to (most times) and can produce the finished page just
as you will finally see it in 8000 Plus, same size and
everything. If the page is a mono (black and white) page,
then we generally get a black and white print that looks
just like an ordinary page; this is called a bromide.
If the page is colour then the Mac can be made to send
colour separations to the Linotron and we get the page out
on transparent film. These films are all black and white but
they carry the information for the cyan, yellow and magenta
printing plates (not green, yellow and red, note), along with a
final one for black. For pages without any colour photographs
on that's all that needs to be done by us.
Pages with colour photographs have to have spaces
left for them on the films. The films and the photographs then
go to a reprographics house where the colour pictures are
scanned by a device far too expensive for us to afford,
turned into bits of film and these extra bits of film stripped
into the relevant colour separations. They are then ready for
the printer.
Time is always the enemy on magazines. Despite the
cost almost everything gets sent by couriers. But once the
printers have the pages, all that remains to be done is to
make up the plates from which the magazine will be printed,
set up the presses and run them off - which they do at nearly
ten thousand copies an hour. ■
BIRTHDAY
Comms made
easy
It's an interesting observation
that even in this hotbed ol
computer boffins our
connections are not quite
perfect. We can send trom the
PCW to the Mac at 9600 baud
but only at 1200 baud in the
other direction; any taster and
the errors mount up so fast that
the Mac spends all its time re-
transmitting packets.
Oh, my ears and whiskers.
Deadlines, so called because If you miss them you're dead, are the bane of journalists' lives. On
magazines there are several of them.
Cover copy In the first few days of the issue we have to decide what the
cover will be.
Cover artwork Get it organised. This may Involve setting up photography or
commissioning drawings.
Colour copy editorial Copy for colour pages finished.
Mail order colour Copy for special offers pages.
Mono copy editorial Last day lor us to pass mono copy to the art department.
Cover sent to printers
All artwork at the printers If we miss we pay for the use of the presses we've booked anyway, at
over £600 per hour.
Printer delivers magazines
Magazines go on sale
These are just the highlights from a list of deadlines a page long. Basically, any copy that misses a
deadline is lost. This means that even if something looks like missing then we have to be prepared to
replace it with something else.
Working backward, the printer delivers a week before the magazine goes on open sale, we send
the artwork a week before that, final mono copy goes in a week before colour copy and colour copy a
week earlier still. As you can easily work out, we're well into the next issue before the previous one
appears, so forgive us if we occasionally appear just a tad confused.
Seplemt*.' 89 8000 PLUS 35
CASE IN POINT
AIDING AND ABETTING
Spreading the word from big to little screen; Diane Branton, with a little
help from her PCW, puts everyone in the picture
I suppose it all started while I was lying on a bed in Ward
19 of the local hospital. There I was, lying with my leg
suspended in a Heath Robinson-meets-Mecano-type
contraption, when a friend of mine, who never appears
without bringing me a problem to solve or some work to do
for our Film Society, came to visit.
Depositing a huge pile of publicity leaflets on my bed he
pulled out a pamphlet about the Amstrad PCW 8256. He
ilrty-two years ago, a polio Innoculatlon
caused me to contract something called
Still's Disease (now called Chronic Juvenile
Arthritis). Of course, it wasn't diagnosed
for many months, but suddenly I could no
longer run or jump. My expected reprieve
never came.
My parents cared for me at home and I
attended the local schools. It was
disappointing when I couldn't go on to take
Genetics at York University because of the
lack ot adequate care facilities, but I
decided to take a college accountancy
course Instead, About twelve months later,
deteriorating hip joints meant that at 21
years old, I was one of the youngest people
to be given replacements.
Since then I have never been well
enough to 'work' again, but I have had 'new
knees' to match the hips. Years of taking
dangerous drugs has added Osteoporosis
to my list of complaints.The implications ot
this are that simple activities like standing
and walking can sometimes induce a stress
dure In my leg.
±
Undergoing yet another enforced spell as a Mecano model?
Clapperboard
The Weslon Coyney and
Caverswail Film Society began life
ten years ago as a result of all the
cinemas in the district being closed
down. Now known affectionately as
Staffordshire Reels on Wheels, the
ten-strong company concentrate on
taking the latest big-screen releases
(before they come out on video) to
town halls, Wis. auditoriums and so
on. The company's patch covers
any venue that happens to lie within
a 35 to 40-mile radius ol the
society's original base in
Caverswail. Admission to a showing
costs £1 .50. Diane takes care of all
the Society's publicity, composing
leaflets and pamphlets for local
libraries and shop windows.
36 8000 PLUS Seple m »r89
handed it to me with the immortal, and consequently, life-
changing words, ' ... I can get one of these for £100 second-
hand.' Overly optimistic as it turned out.
Thirteen weeks later when I got out of hospital, the
dealer broke the news that there would be no cheap
second-hand computer. Remember when any Amstrad
dealer of repute was offering £50 for old machines in the
belief that folks would trade in their 8256s for the new
9512? Well, canny locals were buying cheap typewriters to
trade in and the second-hand 8256s for £1 00 never
materialised. I took a deep breath and ordered the last new
8256 that they had available at the old price.
New arrival
The PCW arrived about a week later. An old trolley table
had been commandeered in preparation for the great event.
Such was the speed and depth of the delivery man's
introduction to the machine that I was semi-proficient with
the set/clear keys by the end of day one.
I started with LocoScript 1 of course; a friend was so
eager for me to become LocoScript 2 literate straight away
that he lent me a copy until I could afford my own. Thus I
claim the distinction of learning LocoScript 2 from the
LocoScript 1 manual.
Summer was spent with my computer and me getting to
know each other a little better. The computer supposedly
makes regular writing tasks easier and quicker. Wrong! I
found three-line' letters turning into full page ones, letters to
friends becoming novelettes and layouts taking hours to set
up just so - everything always a little better than before.
September brought it all. My Open College course
began and the Film Society swung into action with
presentations for a local arts festival and two drive-in
movies. Me and 'Puter spent ten days bashing and beeping
at each other; we churned out press releases, press
reports, complimentary tickets, information sheets, more
press releases, course assignments, letters ... until we
could do no more, and eventually laid our brain cells and
silicon chips respectively down to rest. Little did we know.
Foolishly or otherwise, I offered to tap up my boyfriend's
Open University essay for him. Horrendous words like
'photoisomerisation', 'halobacterium' and 'cyanobacteria'
glowered up at me periodically from the page, but just as
soon as I saved one of them so that I could paste it in, I
would find that the next one had a different ending.
Time was short, though. We edited on screen and, with
an unspoken prayer, I entered the order to Print High
Quality. Phil was suitably impressed as each page
appeared bearing his name, student number, course code
and correct page number. He even enthused over the
equations: apparently they have to be typed in separately
on his work reports because the company's IBM word-
processor can't cope.
And ... action!'
Meanwhile, the Film Society had been gathering its
resources ready for the new year. We operate on an if they
won't come to you, go to them' system: in theory, we take
the latest in big-screen entertainment out to the community.
In practice, it is one huge headache of getting films,
equipment and volunteers to the right venue at the right
time - and letting everyone know about it. Telling the media
is my particular part of the headache.
The January Showbill seemed a big success. It had
taken hours to work out the layout, but with a strong
determination not to buy a pot of glue, a two-columned,
double-sided sheet of A5 with all our films and venues on it
eventually emerged from the printer.
A5 sheets line up neatly along the paper guide which
makes column alignment easy. A few changes under the
Page layout section of Document set-up reduced the gap
at the top and made the bottom space almost non-existent.
Pitch sizes also came into full use. Now it is relatively easy
to produce an up-to-date issue each month.
When my brother came home from college with a huge
project to type up. the restrictions of an unexpanded
memory became obvious - 'Save and continue' was
becoming a way of life. The simplicity of 'Loco logic' also
meant that, with a minimum of instruction, Paul could do
some of his own typing.
How has my life changed? I've always loved to write,
but before the PCW came along, it was becoming very
painful for me to grip a pen or hit the typewriter keys ... now
perhaps I'll get round to writing that book. ■
KRJIN
for all your TEL: 01-567 7313^^11
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Minimum ol 2
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2000 sheets 11" x 14.5" 1pt 60gsm £16.27
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Labels 1 Across 2 Across
2000 3W x 1m." E8.65 - £9.20
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2000 4" x 1.5.16" £13.00 £12.72
'Available in Blue. Yellow. Pink. Green (El ertra)
OTHER SIZES AVAII ABLE
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Digital Pascal MTt £39.00
Digital C Basic £39.00
Prospell £23.00
Arnor C £43.70
Amor Maxam £43.70
Digita Personal Tax Planner £23.00
VOLUME PURCHASERS CALL FOR ASSIS-
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Telex: 947838
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VAT INCLUDED IN PRICE
TEL: 01 567 7313
ULTIMATE SUMS
The fun way for your children to learn and practice sums
• ADDITION * SUBTRACTION •
• MULTIPLICATION * DIVISION •
• SQUARES ' SQUARE ROOTS •
• CUBES ■ CUBE ROOTS *
• EIGHT LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY •
• OPTIONAL JOKES • OPTIONAL TIMER "
• OPTIONAL NOUGHTS AND CROSSES GAME *
• UP TO EIGHT PLAYERS •
WITH INDIVIDUAL SETTINGS OF SUM TYPE, DIFFICULTY LEVEL AND TIMER
• COMPREHENSIVE SCORE SHEET ■
AVAILABLE AT ANY TIME OR PRINT A PERMANENT RECORD
•Ideal lor bar slaff who cannot total the cost ot a round properly - APCW
•It's magic!" Andrew, age five
ULTIMATE SUMS was designed with the advice ol teachers, and has been fully tested by
children. The program Is very easy to oporate, - it's chllds play
ULTIMATE SUMS is suitable for children aged five towards mid-teens
£ 14.95
ULTIMATE QUIZ
Learning can be fun!
• ONE TO EIGHT PLAYERS ■
• SUPPLIED WITH TEN SEPERATE QUIZZES - 1000 QUESTIONS ■
French - German - Italian - History - Geography - Sport
Quotations - Trivia - General Knowledge - Learning to Drive
• OPTIONAL JOKES - TIMER - NOUGHTS & CROSSES •
■ COMPREHENSIVE SCORE SHEET •
Analyse the performance of any player. Incorrectly answered question recalled on screon
• SUITABLE FOR USE IN SCHOOLS - CLUBS - HOME '
Ideal lor charity fund raising, pub quiz nights, family fun
• MENU DRIVEN - VERY EASY TO USE *
What the papers say
'Ultimate Quiz is surprisingly versatile offers a seemingly endless supply of Trivial
Pursuits style multiple choice questions. Few of them are obvious and your answering
keypress is rarely a conlident one' 8000 Plus
"To avoid questions being repeated (and this is where a lot of rival programs fall down) the
program will Keep a record of the ones which have been asked. Only if the quiz Is played long
and hard will some of the questions start to provoke deja-vu' 8000 Plus
£ 14.95
ULTIMATE TEST
The new quiz program for use with ULTIMATE QUIZ question files.
One player against the clock, can you take the ULTIMATE TEST?
ALL THE FEATURES OF ULTIMATE QUIZ
PLUS
• ULTIMATE QUIZ QUESTION PRINTER ■
Quiz sheets lor your school or club. Use any ULTIMATE QUIZ question file to prepare quiz
sheets, select the question file and the number of questions on each page. Choose which
questions you wish to use and the program does the rest. Each sheet is headed with your text.
Answers on a separate sheet. Can be printed from CP/M or your word procressoi. Uke all
ULTIMATE programs, very easy to uso
• ULTIMATE QUIZ QUESTION EDITOR *
Edit any ol Ihe supplied quizzes or create your own, it's very easy. Any number of quizzes can
be saved on disc. Your quiz is suitable for use with ULTIMATE QUIZ, ULTIMATE TEST or the
question printer. Ideal for use in school.
What the papers say
The jewel in the crown of this program Is... the ULTIMATE QUIZ EDITOR which enables you to
create your own quiz files It is well laid out and simple to use' AMSTRAD PCW Magazine
"Another ol Ihe program's major strengths lios in it's Edit program which allows you to devise
your own quiz files. It's quite easy to do. You can therefore adapt it and make quizzes lo test
your children on Chemistry or Maths or whatever 8000 Plus
£ 19.95
also available as an upgrade for ULTIMATE QUIZ for £ 9.95
THE USEFUL DISC
A collection of 20 useful programs, to help you use the computer to the full
• BAR CHARTS • CALENDARS • COLUMNS ■
• CONVERSIONS • DIARY • DISC LABELS •
• FILE MERGE ■ PRINTER SET-UP * ASCII PRINTER •
• ENCRYPTION ' ASCII SORTER ■ TIMER "
• WORD COUNTER * SIMPLE DRAWINGS *
• FRUIT - SHOOT - SQUASH FOR THE CHILDREN •
• REVERSI - Learning the rules is easy! Winning is not!!! *
£ 14.95
ULTIMATE SUMS - ULTIMATE QUIZ - ULTIMATE TEST - THE USEFUL DISC
are all published and produced by DGC Software
ONLY AVAILABLE FROM:
COPY COMM LTD
Aytounhill, CUPAR, Fife KY14 6JH
Orders To:
COPY COMM, FREEPOST, CUPAR, FIFE KY14 6BR
Telephone 033 77 444
(Mon to Fri, 9 to 5 • Human Being. Other times - Infernal Machine)
FAX: 033 77 445 (Anytime)
VISA - BARCLAYCARD - ACCESS - MASTERCARD - AMERICAN EXPRESS - DINERS CLUB
BBD
. DUST.
COVERS
GET SMART !
BBD
. DUST .
COVERS
Protect Your Computing Equipment With
BBD PROFESSIONAL DUST COVERS
• In todays economic climate were equipment failure costs time
and money protecting your hardware from wear and tear is
the smart thing to do and the smart way to do it is with dust
covers from BBD Professional Range.
• Manufactured from top quality washable nylon and
attractively finished with contrasting piping BBD covers are
simply the smartest protective covers available.
• BBD covers can be washed and ironed without fear of fading
or shrinking and will never crack or lose their shape.
• With all these superlative features you might expect BBD
covers to be a little expensive. Nothing could be further from
the truth.
AMSTRAD PCW 8256/8512: £11.95
In light grey with green piping. 3 piece set
AMSTRAD PCW 9512: £13.95
In ivory with green piping. 3 piece set
• BBD also offer a wide range of matching covers for the
printers from only £5.50. These include Amstrad DMP 2000,
3000, 4000 and LQ3500, and a wide selection from Brother,
Canon, Citizen, Epson, Star etc., etc.
Generally covers for 80 column printers are £5.50 and for 132
column £6.50
GET SMART! GET BBD!
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Telephone: 0257 425839 Ext 32 Fax: 0257 423909
DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME
DAAT CTirimTTD
THE ULTIMATE POOLS PREDICTION PROGRAM
MASSIVE DATABASE Poolswinner is a sophisticated Pools
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PREDICTS Not mstSCOREDRAWS, but AWAYS. HOMES
and NO SCORES.
SUCCESSFUL SELEC guarantee that Poolswinner performs
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ADAPTABLE Probabilities are given on every fixture
choose as many selections u you need for your bet The
precise prediction formula can be set by the user you can
develop and test your own unique method.
SIMPLE DATA ENTRY All team names are in the program. Simply type in the reference
numbers from the screen Or use FDCGEN to produce fixture list automatically (see below).
LEAGUE AND NON-LEAGUE All English and Scottish League teams are supported.
and also the non-league sides often used on pools coupons
PRDTTER SUPPORT Full hard copy printout of data if you have a printer.
PRICE £24.00 (all inclusive)
««««■««« a a | AA AT LAST No more struggling for hours to get the
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POOLSWINNER with F1XGEN £26.50 (for both)
COURSEWINNERva
NOT JUST A TIPSTER
PROGRAM, Coursewinner
V3 can be used by experts
THE PUNTERS COMPUTER PROGRAM and occasional punters alike
You can develop and test your own unique winning system by adjusting the
analysis formula, or use the program in simple mode. Coursewinner V3 uses
statistical analysis of major factors including past form, speed ratings, course
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PRICE £24.00 (all inclusive) includes Hat AND National Bunt vfmoni
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FOR COMMODORE 64 128 COMMODORE AMIGA (add £2.00 lOT CUSC).
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ON TEST
PROTEXT -
A PCW USER GUIDE
by Rob Ainsley
E9.95 • BSP Professional Books •
0865 240201
Something like three quarters of all PCW owners use
LocoScript as their word processor. This is largely due to the
tact that LocoScript is the program supplied with their
machine when they buy it. It's also true, that many people, by
virtue ot that fact alone, remain ignorant of the existence of
other word processors and their benefits.
Rob Ainsley has written this book for the first-time user of
Protext. The advantages to be gained from switching to
Protext are manifold, says Ainsley: it's faster, more flexible,
works from CP/M and has a much greater range of features
to choose from. The conversion, he argues, can be quick
and painless.
Roughly speaking, Protext - A PCW User Guide is divided
into three sections. Chapters 1 to 1 cover all the fairly basic
stuff, like creating, saving and editing documents,
manipulating blocks of text and setting up headers and
footers. Part Two, meanwhile, is more concerned with the
program's built-in programming language, the mail merger
program, and using Protext as a text database. The
author also shows you, among other things, how to
go about altering Protext's configuration (for
#*Jjc*i
example, line spacing and page size
so that you can bend the
program to your own
requirements. Each chapter
finishes with a summary
consisting of a quick-fire
volley of notes to help you
consolidate what you've
just learnt.
The third section of the
book is called 'Tips' and each
individually-indexed
paragraph reveals the
secrets of some hitherto
unexplored nook or cranny
of the program: it's almost
definitely going to be worth
your while having a browse
through. Learn, for example, what
particularly arcane combinations of
key presses are required to swap letters
without retyping the whole word, how to use
hard and soft hyphens to your advantage, how to print
addresses on envelopes without Protext treating the envelope
as an A4-size piece of paper and design your own characters
- to name but a few.
At the back of the book are a number of useful appendices
which act as quick sources of reference. The LocoScript to
Protext conversion chart will prove particularly beneficial for
those readers who know LocoScript well but who are changing
to Protext. The author lists the LocoScript command to
perform a certain function on the left hand side of the page
and beside it places the Protext equivalent.
Ainsley's approach is both friendly and easy to follow.
The unassuming, tutorial like approach is just what any
potential user of an unfamiliar program is going to need. And
let's face it, as former editor of the best PCW magazine
around, he ought to know what he's talking about. ■
EASILY INTO LOCOSCRIPT FOR THE
AMSTRAD PCW 8256/851 2
ISBN 333 44376 4
8000 PLUS VALUE VERDICT 5
tf*
The two best word processors for the
PCW lock horns: decide which is the
right one for you!
EASILY INTO LOCOSCRIPT FOR THE
AMSTRAD PCW8256/8512
by Susan Rogers
£15.20 • Macmillan Modern Office • 0256 29242
If you've got a PCW 8256 or 8512 and you need to learn all there is to know about
LocoScript 1 right now, then this book-cum-training guide will almost certainly be
the one for you.
'Easily into LocoScript' by Susan Rogers, examiner in word processing with the
RSA, is aptly titled. It has been written with the complete novice in mind and is
tailor-made for self-study. Best of all, though, it's completely fool-proof
and water-tight.
It's easy to overlook the fact that as well as a self-standing book (it
sits up on the desk beside your PCW for ease of reference), you also get a
LocoScript 1 training disc containing plenty of exercise material.
Before she gets stuck into the instruction proper, Rogers insists on
imparting some basic, preparatory knowledge. To anyone acquainted with
their PCW, it will sound like stating the obvious. To the absolute beginner,
it will be a welcome, confidence-boosting introduction. Not only does she
explore and define the fundamental concept of word processing along
with the associated hardware and software, she also stresses the
importance of making regular backups and not using the original
systems discs supplied with the machine.
The best thing about self-study, of course, is that
you can progress at your own pace. There
are twelve sessions in all, each
one covering a cluster of related
LocoScript functions.
A list of objectives are
supplied at the beginning of each
session. In the first session, for
example, you're told that you're
going to load the LocoScript
program, use the [CAN] key, create a
document and perform some simple
text editing. From then on, the training
material is divided into two columns,
the one on the left being a 'press this or
that button' column, while the one on the
right is more of a 'and this is what will
happen' column.
Words which should actually appear
on your PCW screen as a result of these
key-presses are displayed in bold type. The
book is liberally peppered with life-size screenshots just so that you can make
absolutely sure that you've done what you were supposed to.
At the end of each session, there's a series of ten multiple choice questions for you to
check that you've absorbed what you've been learning. There's also a Quick Reference
Guide and glossary at the back of the book to quickly clear up any areas of confusion.
Susan Rogers, as we've seen before in our Book Look spot, is one of the best user
guide writers around, and defies even the most complete computing dunderhead not
to be completely au fait with the workings of that veteran word processor LocoScript 1
by the time they've turned the last page. ■
PROTEXT - A PCW USER'S GUIDE
ISBN NUMBER 632 02564 6
8000 PLUS VALUE VERDICT 5
Septemt*<89 8000 PLUS 39
DISCOUNT SOFTWARE
FOR THE PCW 8256, 8512 & 9512
HARDWARE
5.25" DISC DRIVES
We now stock 5.25" fully compatible
disc drives lor the PCW range. They
are directly addressed by CPM and
require no extra software.
PCW 8256 & 95 1 2
5.25" drive £139.95
PCW 85 12
Switchable drive £159.95
WORD PROCESSING
Tasword 8000 17.95
Tasprint 8000 10.95
Taspell 8000 1 1.95
Tas Sign 23.95
Locoscript 2.2 2 1 .95
Locoscript 2 + Locospell 31.95
Supertype II 12.95
Protexi Filer (needs Protext) 21.95
Protext Office (needs Protext) ....29.95
MJC SPECIAL:
PROTEXT CPM FULL VERSION
including Spellchecker & Mailmerge
RRP £59.95 OURS £39.95
DATABASES
Masterfile 8000 34.95
At Last Plus 27.95
Comix Card Index 29.95
Minerva First Base 25.95
German Master 1 5.95
French Mistress 1 5.95
Italian Tutor 15.95
Spanish Tutor 15.95
Iansyst Two Finger Typing 1 9.95
lansyst Crash Course Typing 19.95
Supercalc 2 44.95
Minerva First Calc 25.95
Money Manager Plus 32.95
Stockmarket (Share analysis) 32.95
Comix Simple Accounts II 79.95
Plan-It (personal planner) 15.95
Job Estimator 69.95
Product Costing 69.95
DG Payroll 29.95
DESKTOP / GRAPHICS
Desktop Publisher 1 9.95
Desktop Publisher + AMX Mouse...59.95
Stop Press Software 29.95
Stop Press + AMX Mouse 64.95
Micro Design 2 49.95
Micro Design 2 + AMX Mouse. ..89.95
Masterpaint 1 5.95
Masterpaint + AMX Mouse 59.95
AMX + Interface only 47.50
(For Stop Press, Desktop Publisher.
Masterpaint, Micro Design wui others)
MASTERSCAN:
Will cligiiise MOST
pictures using an optical scanner
attached to the PCW printer head.
Images can then be re-printed or saved Co
disc and incorporated in the Masterpaint
or Desktop Publisher.
MASTERPAINT: Graphics package
which can be used to enhance or alter
images produced by Masterscan or as
stand alone drawings package.
MASTER PACK: including both
Masterscan and Masterpaint.
MASTERSCAN
RRP £69.95 - OURS £54.95
MASTERPAINT
RRP £19.95 - OURS £15.95
MASTERPACK
RRP £79.95 - OURS £59.95
9512 MATRIX PRINTERS
Panasonic KXP108I £159.95
Star LC10 (inc. Lead) £174.95
Hisoft Forth 18.95
Nevada Cobol 39.95
Nevada Fortran 39.95
Hisoft Pascal 80 39.95
Hisoft Devpac 80 V2 39.95
Hisoft C Compiler 39.95
Maxamll 39.95
Amor C 39.95
GAMES
Clock Chess '89 15.95
Classic Games 4 1 5.95
Head Over Heels (not 95 12) 11.95
Corruption 19.95
Trivial Pursuit 15.95
Scrabble 15.95
Tomahawk 15.95
Clock Chess '88 12.95
Matchday II 1 1 .95
Batman (not 95 12) 1 1 .95
Time & Magik 1 1.95
Lancelot 15.95
Strike Force Harrier 15.95
Fish 19.95
BOOKS
Protext: A PCW User's Guide 9.95
All In One Computing (Hughes) .... 1 1.95
Program Your PCW 7.95
PCW Basic 2 (Mallard Basic) 9.95
PCW 8256/8512 Fabric 14m 3.95
x2 7.00
PCW 9512 Genuine Carbon 3.95
PCW 9512 Fabric Multistrike 2.95
MISCELLANEOUS
PCW 8000 Dust Cover Set 3pc ...9.95
PCW 9512 Dust Cover Set 3pc .10.95
8 Series Printer Ext. Lead 1 m .... 1 1 .95
9 Series Printer Ext Lead 1 m 1 2.95
1000 Fanfold Labels 5.95
3" Disc Head Cleaner 6.95
9512 Daisywheels: All at £5.95
Rector (10) Courier (10)
Script (12) Orator (10)
Prestige Elite ( 1 2) Thesis (Prop)
Letter Gothic (10/12) Mini Gothic (15)
MINI OFFICE PRO+
New updated Mini Office with free
all-in-one-book, by John Hughes
RRP £49.95
OURS £32.95
For 8512 or 9512 only al lime ol going lo piess
8256 owners please call
Amsoft or Maxell CF2 Discs*
£25.95 for 10
£14.00 for 5
* as available
All prices INCLUDE VAT, postage and packaging
Overseas orders welcome - please write for prices
MJC SUPPLIES pls
40a QUEEN STREET, HITCHIN, HERTS, SG4 9TS.
Tel: (0462) 32897 / 420847 / 421415 for Enquiries / Credit orders
CALLERS WELCOME Mon to Fri 9.30 - 5.00. Sat 10.00 - 4.00
BUSINESS
SLOW RANGER
Computer consultant Annette Dougall interviews a man who
farms some of the slowest animals on Earth.
Would you like to be your own boss? Quit the hustle
and bustle of city life and slow your life down to a
snail's pace and earn your living from the land? If
so, you could find the good life by becoming one of
the 50 or so snail farmers in Britain today. Robert
Cooney, an American university graduate and former
corporate executive, did just that two years ago
when he started a snail farm that nestles deep within
the rolling hills outside Bath. When it came down to
choosing the computer system that would keep pace
with his business, he plumped for a PCW.
After five years in the States, Bob and his English
wife, Linda, ran a highly-rated guest house in Bath
for two years. Having sold the business, they were
looking tor a new venture in which to invest their
capital. Born of a farming family in the American Mid West.
Bob was keen to work on the land, but the 24 hour a day,
365 day a year nature of conventional farming did not
appeal to him; nor did he want the huge capital commitment
it required or the stresses provoked by employing others.
While looking for the right small-scale upmarket
commodity, an article on snail farming prompted Bob to
attend an open day of the British Snail Farmers' Association
at Rode in Wiltshire. Once they were convinced that the
project was viable, it took nine months to find the right
property; this consisted of a beautiful house in the country,
suitable outbuildings and 212 acres of land.
And so, in March 1987, with the capital from
the guest house, plus a loan Irom the bank,
Helix Enterprises was born.
■moHPsm
Robert Cooney uses a PCW to help him run his livestock business. The PCW proved more than adeauate
lor coping with all aspects of the snail business as well as other money making activities.
Shelling out
Slow rate of return
Most people consider snails to be slimy,
unpleasant creatures who create havoc in the
garden, the kind of creature most people put a
lot of effort into destroying, but that could be
taking a completely wrong approach; instead
of getting rid of them perhaps you should be
encouraging them.
According to Bob Cooney. they are
extremely nutritious, fat free, with a unique
texture and delicious taste because of their
ability to absorb any flavour. They are also a
natural aphrodisiac. In short, he describes
snails as a 'perfectly evolved food source'.
With the international market for this
particular delicacy increasing, snails are being
over-harvested. In five to ten years there will
be a world shortage of them. In the medium to
long term, therefore, the profit potential is
assured. But snail farming is definitely not for
those looking for a get-rich-quick scheme.
During the two years Bob has been in the
business, the farm has produced no income. He's come
close to quitting on two occasions but is determined to make
a go of it. He says, I've found my niche if we can make
some money on it."
While the snails gorged their slow way to selling size, Bob and Linda still needed to make a living. In March 193S they
won the contract to organise the World Frozen Food Congress in Nice. With individual arrangements to make for over
250 delegates, speakers and guests by June, they had to complete a lot ol paperwork in a very short time. To do so
manually, they would need at least one, possibly two, lull-time secretaries.
Not wanting to make a large Investment at this time, Bob and Linda shopped around carefully for a computer
which would undertake all the work required at a reasonable cost. They decided that the Amstrad range offered
greater power and flexibility for price than anything else on the market. The competition narrowed down to a
straight fight between the PCW 9512 and the 1640. Should they spend an extra £1,000 on the IBM compatible with
its well established software range or choose the cheap micro with integral word processing package and
good quality printer?
To help the Cooneys buy the computer which was right for them, I took my PCW along to demonstrate the
machine's capabilities. Having analysed the information they needed to run the conference smoothly, I set up sample
files in LocoScript, SuperCalc2 and dBasell. We compared the relative merits of the packages and decided that
dBASEII and LocoMail could easily meet all their requirements. The 9512 had won by a knockout.
Bob and Linda duly purchased the machine and software for a total cost, including paper, discs, ribbons and so
on, of around £750. One half day's training from me and one Irantic phone call later, and they were up and running.
All conference, seminar and lour reservations were entered into dBasell, which then produced listings for each
event, calculated a complicated scale of charges for delegates and provided final total income figures. Relevant
details were merged into LocoMail to produce booking confirmations and invoices.
Because of the short time-scale involved, Bob and Linda were forced to get right in and learn how to use the
machine. Despite the fact that he occasionally lound himself yelling at the computer at 2 am out of pure frustration,
Bob found the whole learning process intellectually stimulating and a real challenge. He might have lost some sleep,
but without the 9512, completing all the paperwork lor the conference would have been a real nightmare.
Bob hopes to start supplying snails on a regular basis to
local restaurants and hotels in the near future. One good
restaurant could get through 500 to 1 000 kilos of
snails a year at a conservative price of £1 5 per kilo, a <
41 8000 PLUS Seplembei
BUSINESS
Sunday Slimes
Together with Warwick
Billings, an agricultural
graduate who occasionally
works with him, Bob is
setting up the Snail Farmers'
Society, a non-commercial
endeavour, to produce a
quarterly newsletter. The first
issue will be published (his
autumn. Membership will
cost under E10. They aim to
bhng together current snail
research and to disseminate
it. For further information,
write to Robert Cooney, Helix
Enterprises, The Barn,
Carlmgcotl, Near Bath, Avon
BA2 8AW, or telephone
0761-37071.
42 8000 PLUS September i
minimum income of £7,500 per annum from a single good
customer. By the summer of 1991, he hopes to have
100,000 reproducing snails, providing him with one million
snails per annum. Given these quantities, he could sell
directly to France. Or he could sell to Britsnail, a co-
operative which buys British snails, processes them, then
sells them on the French wholesale market.
Currently the French hold the monopoly on the world
snail market. They consume 15,000 tonnes (a tonne is
1 000 kilos) of the creatures per annum, 1 0,000 tonnes of
which are farmed or, more generally, collected from the
wild in France itself. They import a further 40,000 tonnes,
re-exporting the remainder.
The impending shortage has
been exacerbated by
Chernobyl. Balkan snails are
no longer imported into
France, because their
foodstuff has been
contaminated by radioactive
isotopes.
At a snail's pace
The British snail industry is
still in its infancy. Being one
of the pioneers. Bob has had
to learn slowly, and
sometimes painfully, the best
way to care for his snails.
Progress has come by trial
and error, but mainly from
his observations of the
animals' behaviour. Snails
are nocturnal and Bob, a
night owl himself, often
observes them between
1 2 and 2 am, seeing what
they do and do not eat,
checking to see if they are
mating and generally studying their behaviour.
Bob keeps two breeds of snails, Helix Pomaita and
Helix Aspersa. The first livestock, 8000 sexually mature
snails, were imported from France. Before they arrived,
Bob prepared the farm by putting up a fine green fence
around part of the land and planting the plot with a variety
of food. At first he grew neat squares of different types of
foodstuffs, but now he grows a mixture of plants, providing
both a varied diet and shade. Snails need shade in the
summer as exposure to sun and wind can dry them out.
This is an extensive, not intensive, farm. Rather than
trying to get the snails to conform to behavioural patterns
convenient to man, Bob is constantly adapting his farming
methods to the snails' way of life in the wild. As he wants to
develop a system which is as natural as possible, the farm
is entirely organic, all food being grown chemical- and
additive-free. He believes that contented snails will breed
more plentifully and that his greatest chance for success
lies with his own, home grown generations of snails, born
and bred on his land. The soil on the farm, which is rich in
calcium, has proved excellent for them.
The long sleep
Snails hibernate in winter, ideally for six months, so that
they emerge when the plants have had time to grow in lush
abundance. In the wild, some snails hibernate by burying
themselves in the ground, many by crawling into stone
walls. The first year. Bob collected all 80,000 snails by
hand into boxes, then put the boxes into his
thermostatically controlled stables. It's fairly clear that this
is a labour intensive method of rounding up your livestock.
Then he accidentally discovered, by leaving some
plastic sheeting on the ground, that snails, being sociable
creatures, congregate beneath it. So the next year he
arranged to round them up much more easily by laying
plastic sheeting on the ground. The snails co-operated by
congregating on the underside of the plastic and he then
simply transferred this to the stables.
Bob did not put all his snails inside last winter, wanting, if
possible, a more natural hibernation for them. In some
areas he put down plastic sheeting insulated with straw and
many of the snails hibernated successfully there. He now
plans to build stone 'houses' in the snails' pens so that they
can spend the winter in their normal environment.
The sex life of the snail is
extremely interesting,
especially to other snails.
Snails are sexually mature
when they are about three
years old and live for five to
six years. They are
hermaphrodites, having both
male and female
characteristics. They sense
from the enzymes in the
slime trail left by another
snail when that snail is ready
to mate. He/she shoots a
'love dart', a piece of calcium
shaped like a spearhead,
into the chosen partner, then
mating takes place. About
three weeks later both snails
will lay anything from 80 to
120 eggs each.
Theoretically, snails can
breed two or three times a
year. But in practice only fifty
percent of those who are
sexually active will breed at
any one time. Also, because
of predators, Bob calculates a survival rate as low as 10 to
1 5 living babies per year per parent.
The year of the snail
The work on a snail farm is seasonal. Intensive preparations
to the land are required from mid March to June, including
growing food and building fences. Slugs have to be
controlled because they compete for the snails' food. Grass
and weeds, too, need constant attention. From June to
October the main tasks are keeping out natural predators
such as mice and birds, catching escapees and carefully
monitoring the moisture level. Snails need moisture, which
they absorb through their skin as they move along. In the
autumn, those snails which are to hibernate indoors have to
be collected. The hibernation temperature has to be
monitored during the winter.
What do you need to become a snail farmer? 'Some
money, a lot of patience and a lot of time,' Bob says. He has
this advice to give to other would-be snail farmers. 'Buy
2,000 to 3,000 snails and try keeping them to see if it would
work.' He estimates that it would cost approximately
£40,000 to set up a snail farm, assuming that you already
own about 10 acres of suitable land and buildings. This
figure covers the cost of buying the initial stock, putting up
fencing, insulating/preparing buildings for hibernation, and
buying seed to plant the snails' food. The farm would
provide you with no income during the initial three, and
possibly more, years. Luckily, the snail farming cycle does
allow time to pursue other income generating activities.
Bob loves his life as a snail farmer. 'How' could my life be
any better? Living here, being my own boss, working the
land, watching things grow. I've got it made in the shade.' ■
If you use
Mini Office
or LocoFile,
here's what
you've been
missing:
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Rob Ainsley, New Computer Express
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"FLIPPER is one of the most impressive utilities I've seen for the PCW"
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FLIPPER could do some pretty
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Unfortunately, there were a few things it
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Now FLIPPER 2 is here. It can do
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Please send me FLIPPER 2 for my:
8512 -9512 • 8256 with 256K extra memory 11
I enclose a cheque/postal order for £29.95 made payable to
Software Imperative.
I enclose my original FLIPPER masterdisk and a cheque/postal
order for C5.00.
(Price includes UK postage and packing. Please make all cheques payable to Software
Imperative. Sorry, FLIPPER does not run on an unexpanded 82M|
Name.
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'WARE
f M P E R A T 1 V E
FLIPPER 2: at £29.95, it's essential.
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AUTOMATIC SHEET FEEDER
The ASF9512 s an automatic sheet feeder
tor use with the PCW 9512 it will hold up to 30
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can be attached or removed >n seconds, leaving the
pnntef to accept individual sheets oi paper or the
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£75 ONLY
ACCESSORIES PCW 951 2 | ■ 3 " CF2 DISCS FOR amstrad | i DESKTOP PUBLISHING ri accoustic hood for your 9512
FD4 2ND DISK DRIVE 1MB FOR
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CYC 256K to 512K Memory Upgrade Kit
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FD2 Second Disk Drive 8256..
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SKM SPECIALS
maxell
CF-2per 10.
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The Database Publisher (software! £20.00
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13 Fonts. Clip Art, Typesetting.
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PRINTER QTY
AMSTRAD 2»
PCW 8256.8512 NYLON £4 30
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PCW S25585I2 COLOUR C5.00
PCW95I2NVLON E3.50
OTY
t*
£4.00
C4 50
E4 75
C3 30
PCW 9512 CARBON
£4 75 £4 50
OTY
10.
C3 50
£4 00
£4 50
£3 00
£4 00
TaswordBOOO
Taspnnt8000
Taspell 8000..
..£16.00
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..£12.50
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Amsott Supercalc 2 £40 00
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Thesis PS
Each £5.25
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iiE®ir
ttwf
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ON TEST
PICTURE THIS.
Desktop publishing or integrated page processing with the PCW?
Tim Smith spots the difference.
Z^^vaAaa^
^ 1
4
nimbii* II fOJ .!.» Stn.l M.IMNO
1 tmlm IMHIm IN)
*
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY
icroDesign II from Creative Technology has
been eagerly awaited since its first showing at
the Which Computer Show earlier this year.
The outstanding feature then was the speed at
which the PCW screen was driven. But speed will
always tend to be impressive; there has to be much
more than that for a package to break new ground.
MicroDesign II is heralded byits creators as an
Integrated Page Processor. At first glance this
smacks of computer industry self-indulgence, like
calling a bicycle an 'environmentally friendly
transportation module'. Closer examination proves
that this title has less to do with marketing than a
genuine break with the kind of desktop publishing
packages which have set the standards on the PCW.
A page (whether it be in a magazine, leaflet,
poster or any of the other applications for which
desktop publishing systems are used) has two main
elements - graphics and text - that the software
allows you to manipulate to produce the required
layout. Up until now the text has been very much a
poor relation. In an ideal world all of these would be
perfectly integrated to produce a legible, professional-
looking piece of work. This is what Creative
Technology have set out to do with MicroDesign II,
hence the title.
Little and large
MicroDesign II stores its pages in the form of bit-
maps. These are basically a pattern of dots which on
the PCW are either green or black (on or off). Ideally
you will need to have a 512k PCW (8512, 9512 or
upgraded 8256) in order to get the best from the
program. The reason for this is that the program can
use 256k of RAM to store a screen or area of screen.
Using so much RAM allows MicroDesign II to define
images and print them out at much higher resolutions
than any previous desktop publishing software. To
save disc space these high resolution screens are
crunched down before being saved. Depending on
how big the section of screen is that you wish to save,
the disc-file size can vary from around 6k to 50k.
A PCW 8256 will be able to run MicroDesign II but
can't use the program's full potential. The reason for
this is that the program allocates memory to pages in
progress in a very specific manner. A 51 2k PCW will
be able to use a full 256k for each working page
while the 8256 uses just 64k. Within these blocks of
memory all the necessary work, including the
printing, must be done.
So, without a great deal of fiddling about you will
not be able to get the extremely high resolution
printouts which set the software apart from its
competition. The way around this problem, aside
from upgrading your machine, is to make use of the
Strip format. MicroDesign comes with three possible
page formats: A4 Upright, Sideways and the Strip.
Strips can use either 64k or 256k depending on
your machine. The Strip format gives the same
amount of memory to a quarter of an A4 page as it
would to an entire page using the other methods. To
sum up, the possible arrangements are a 64k page,
a 64k strip, a 256k page or a 256k strip.
It is possible to construct a single page from
four of these strips to give the highest possible
resolution page, though the planning involved in
all of this must be meticulous (especially if you
wish to flow text freely or have pictures of more
than a quarter page in height). In fact the Strip
format was originally called Letterhead in line with
its intended use.
Choice morsels
MicroDesign II is made up of a number of screens
which are normally accessed from a pull-down
menu on the left of the main layout section. The first
screen worth a visit is entitled OPTIONS. This
allows you to specify a number of preferences
which are then saved as a file. The file is looked at
by the program every time you boot up. Within it you
store details such as whether or not you are using a
mouse (Kempston or AMX), the speed of the
mouse/cursor and other data relating to movement
about the program.
Happily, if you decide not to bother with a
mouse, or you can't afford one, the package still
handles very well indeed. In fact the only real
reason for using such a device might be in the
production of 'freehand' drawings.
This screen will also give you the first sight of
the impressive way in which MicroDesign II copes
with text. It recognises and will import LocoScript
files automatically. Along with this you are also
given the choice of Protext, Wordstar or Ascii files.
In our test the only LocoScript control codes which
could not be handled by MicroDesign were the Sub
and Superscripts; but useful as they are for
footnotes in academic work they have few uses in
magazine or poster work. Creative Technology
haven't left external word processors to take on the
work of text entry. Included in the program is a text
editor which is no negligeable piece of work.
It acts as a stand alone system and uses the
familiar [+] and [-] LocoScript system for bold or
underlines. Not only this but you have the ability to
merge text files as well as copying and
moving chunks around the screen. The £*-«"^
The Icon scieen. Edit the built-in icons
or those Imported from elsewhere o'
even create your own
change oi import but this time with
typelaces
«- »
k s i
v vc s
September 89 8000 PLUS 45
ON TEST
Going dotty
i print quality, even from the PCW printer, knocks spots ott the competition, or rather it ad
Output is extraordinarily good. MicroDesign II produces lar higher resolution printouts than has
previously been the case with other systems. The very highest delinition is held in the 256k strip
lormat liles. but this can only be transferred to paper using 24 pin printers or laser printers, a
limitation imposed by the nature of the output devices.
Most 9 pin printers can be driven in single, double and quad density both vertically and
horizontally. Including the built-in PCW printer, unfortunately Amstrad wouldn't tell Creative
Technology how to drive the built-in printer at quad density horizontally.
This means that using an external 9 pin Epson compatible printer will produce noticeably better
print quality in the highest definition modes. 24 pin printers have their own drivers so that aspect
ratios are kept correct - circles will come out as circles and A4 pages print to the right length.
The laser printer drivers produce cleaner looking printouts because of the smaller dot size on the
paper, but in lad the 24 pin drivers actually provide the highest definition on the paper.
speed at which all this occurs might fool you into thinking that
you were in fact working on a dedicated word processor and
not merely a section of a larger program.
Once you have written and edited the text the next stage
is to position it on the main screen. This entails moving
into what is really the central section of the program; the
Layout screen.
An important feature here is that once you have set up the
number of columns you require (from 1 to 8) you can save
this information as a Template, again similar to the LocoScript
method. The position of picture and text boxes, the
scale/point size in which you wish the words to be typeset
and whether you wish the text to flow around the picture
boxes - all these details are held for use at a later date. This
should prove extremely handy for a person writing a regular
magazine or journal. You are able to create both right, left,
front and back pages which can then be recalled with a click
of the mouse or flick of the finger.
Icon see for miles
Once over the initial that someone has finally arrived at a
Origin of the
species
MicroDesign II was actually
designed lo run on ihe CPC6128.
Four years passed before a lull
PCW version was ready tot Ihe
marker Another small gobbet ol
inlormaiion lo allow Ihe PCW
owner lo (eel righteously smug is
lhal according to programmer
Simon Hargreaves the
specifications for the PCW
version are lar higher than those
tor the PC.
system which treats words with respect you will need to
deal with the illustrations.
As you would expect MicroDesign II comes with a
sizeable library of icons (representing faces, musical and
electronic symbols amongst others). As well as these you
have access to thirty different fonts, none of which are too
deliberately 'wacky', no wild west or space age fonts for
example. This will not stop you from importing icons, clip
art or fonts from other systems, such as Stop Press, or
even from designing your own.
Editing all and any of these is a simple enough affair as
both the fonts and icons have their own editing areas with
the program. These consist of a grid giving a pixel by pixel
map of the required image and an editing menu enabling
you to manipulate the shapes and create your own.
Creative Technology have also taken a good hard look
at the PCW market (the software took four man years to
design according to the company). This is illustrated by the
fact that clip art, digitised pictures and icons can be
imported from the other PCW publishing packages on the
market. The only limitation is that you are unable to resize
anything to fit. This did indeed become frustrating and will
hopefully be dealt with eventually by the company.
Prints of lightness
So what happens when you have your page set up. the
immortal prose flowed in around the stunning images? You
will need to print them out. the fundamental reason for
which desktop publishing packages are bought. Yet again
the product shows itself to be a force to contend with. Not
only do you have the choice of the built-in 8000 series
printer, you can also make use of external 9 pin or 24 pin
printers and even a laser printer if you can afford such an
article; there are specially written drivers for each of these.
Printing can be carried out in Draft or Quality mode, the
former uses more pins to provide a more rapid result while
the latter is far more precise and less grainy. You also have
The Design screen. A tour.
Once you have set-up your general layout you will need to begin work in some
detail. You will need to set up pictures, create boxes tor text and generally deal
with the details which make a good publication excellent. This Is the where the
Design screen comes into its own.
A The Design Window
All the actual Ireehand' drawing, painting and detailed design is
earned out within this area. Only ihe area visible lo you can be
used to draw.
B The Icon Window:
Consists of two sections; the «on display ilselt and the icon
menu. The latter section enables you lo mampulale the current
icon before placing it on the screen. This can be switched off lo
provide more Design Screen.
C The Design Menu:
Allows you exit to Ihe main menu. It also contains Ihe fundiors
required to set up a good design screen:
1 The Zoom function consists ol a section 62 by 1 20
pixels in area which can be worked either by using whole
or hall pixels
2 Block and Store are two ways ol saving and loading
sections ol the screen. Store will retain the section in long
term memory, Block will only retain it in ihe very short term
q Wnte: Ihis is uselul for creating large headlines within
graphics boxes.
4 Shape and Una: two ways ol avoiding Ireehand
drawing when creating accurate sketches.
5 Icon, this simply loads the currently selected icon onto
the screen at the cursor postion
g Paint and Flood: llood will lill any bounded area ol
the screen while paint allows you to choose the area. 'fou
can use either black 'ink', Ihe current icon patlern or you
can use either function as an eraser
7 Load IC's, Font, Load and Save Cut: Ihe first two
options here are self explanatory (an IC being an icon!).
The Cuts lunction will allow you to create and save your
own artisllc efforts lo disc.
EXTRA Keys:
The arrow on the left switches the icon window on or ott The
one on Ihe right gives two menus. Either the Scroll Map which
enables you to move around the Layout screen or the Extra
Keys themselves. Nearly every function requires a separate^!*'
type and this is where they, amongsl olher things, are chosen
46 8000 PLUS Sep!*™*- 89
ON TEST
Dave Axford and the second opinion
HUf'M'lUJ
Silt 'n'
Pepper
On top of St
Catherine's
hill is i
s t r » n 9e
octagonal
building
known as the
'pepperpot',
Originally a
lighthouse
which was
ISLE OF WIGHT
l.ilL V ~ . I
L -. ■■ m has a pier which is half a Rile long;
I " { built in 1814 it is the first entry point
LIU for passengers disembarking fro* the
hydrofoil ferry. Many years ago trans used to
travel on the pier, no* ex-underground trains run
to the end of the pier carrying their hunan cargo
to and fro* Shanklin.
Rising steeply fro* the seafront are Regency and
Victorian buildings, sow with bay windows,
standing proudly overlooking the Solent The
esplanade is vide and has Rang trees, east
alongside the pier entrance is the islands
hoverport; it is said that the journey between
Rude and Southsea nas the world's first scheduled
hovercraft service,
Body lexl in Slop Press has always left a lot 10 be desired because ol Ihe way me program Ireals lex! as graphics.
fflggmnaa
Salt '••' Ppppor
On top or 9i
CaLh»rtn«'» MM
P'PP
Ortgl
light ho
wo* bi
g known
t 1. •
• r pot '.
i a I I v *
MS whloh
lilt bg a
Codetta
oot or
o a » h «.
greek.
ISLE OF WIGHT
YDE has a pier which Is hair a
mile long; bulk In 1S14 >' Is (he
first entry point for passengers
disembarking from the hydrofoil ferry.
Many years ago trams used to travel on
the pier, now ex-underground trains run
to the end of the pier carrying their
human cargo to and from Shanklin.
Rising steeply from the 6eafront are
Regency and Victorian buildings, some
with bay windows, standing proudly
overlooking the Solent. The esplanade Is
wide and has many trees, east alongside
the pier entrance is the Islands hoverport-.
it is said that the journey between Ryde
and Southsea was the world's first
scheduled hovercraft service.
invasion. These forts were never used
for that purpose and are known locally
as Palaeriloo's Follies.
MicroDesign II also Ireals lexl as graphics, bul Ihe high graphics resolution produces higher quality text even from the standard printer
The lirsl thing I did alter creating my working disc was
to follow the tutorial and print out the example page.
This consisted ot a masthead (title) with three columns
ot text which included a picture in the middle of the
centre column. The question burning inside me 'Is it
possible to get good looking text as well as graphics?'
had been answered with a resounding yes! If I hadn't
printed it out on the PCW printer myself I would have
found it hard to believe. The quality was far in excess of
my hopes.
The resolution used in MicroDesign II is four times
higher than Stop Press. Despite the memory limitations
on the PCW 8256 all is not lost when needing the
highest of resolutions. MicroDesign II has a facility tor
creating Strip formats, four strips to an A4 page. If you
own an 8256 it is possible to print all four strips in
sequence to create a high resolution page.
You might think, as I did, that my library of graphics
would now be defunct. Not a bit of it, MicroDesign II can
import graphics from Stop Press, Desk Top Publisher,
Newsdesk International, Mini Office Professional and
Vidi digitised pictures. MicroDesign II doesn't have a
graph facility but this is no problem for me as I can
design my graphs in Mini Office Professional and import
them onto a MicroDesign II page.
The program is easy to learn and use and I found it
very fast at making up pages. Above everything else the
output quality is very high. Anyone who creates a
magazine or newsletter will find the template files a real
asset with all the formatting details saved to disc. This
means that you don't have to manually recreate those
essential details of every page every time.
I found this a very professional program. So even if
you already have a desktop publishing program and are
using it seriously, then think about getting MicroDesign
II for its quality output and speed. As the printout
quality is higher than Stop Press you may be forgiven
for thinking that the printing will take four times as long.
I found it took about two and a half times as long to
print out using the PCW printer; other printers can be
much faster. A small price to pay - better to be getting
on with something else (not on the PCW) than
repetitively entering details on each page and getting a
poor quality printout.
a choice of scales; full, half or quarter. These levels will give
you a printout of varying size and density. This gives a ready
ability to print quarter-scale draft proofs in order to keep an
eye on your progress.
As well as the straightforward print-a-page option there
are two further forms of print out: Text only and Queue. The
former will not recognise any control codes (such as Italics
or bolds) but will enable you to take the work away to check
for style or spelling mistakes.
The latter. Queue, can be used in conjunction with the
Strip facility we looked at earlier to produce high resolution
output on an 8256. Queue allows you to print a number of
files from disc (the page method will only print the page
which is resident in memory). Consequently, when using
continuous paper, for example, you can leave the PCW to
print an entire publication overnight. To use the print Queue
you must create a list of the files you wish to be printed using
the built-in text editor. This file can be kept for further use
and, combined with the Template facility, should take a great
deal of the grind out of regular publications.
And finally
It must be said that this all too brief look over MicroDesign II
has only scratched the surface of its capabilities. Minor
moans relate to such things as the inability to resize clip art,
the fact that you cannot create graphs, although you can
import them from Mini Office and Stop Press, and the rather
diminutive size of the Design screen (the section of the main
page which can be worked on). This final gripe can be
overcome by scrolling around the full page from within the
Design section.
Aside from these moans (and the fact that Flipper
refuses to run MicroDesign II at the moment) one point that
deserves a special mention is the manual; produced using
MicroDesign II with a little help from a laser printer. It begins
with a tutorial which can be worked through in conjunction
with files on the program disc. It is clear, concise and
refrains from using terms which might confuse the first time
user. It must be said that it is one of the best examples of
technical writing we've seen for a while.
In conclusion, with MicroDesign II the PCW world has
gained a very strong publishing package (with a reasonable
word processor if you require another one) which will
produce printouts of an extremely high quality which after all
is the point of the entire exercise. ■
MicroDesign II • Creative Technology
£59.95 • £99.95 (with Kempston mouse)
Telephone: 0889 - 567 - 160
Stop Press
MicroDesign II takes over where
Stop Press leaves oft There is
no chance of Stop Press being
upgraded lo compete with
MicroDesign II now. and in tact
there would be little point; there
is just too much ground to make
up. With the prices ot the two
products being comparable il
would make little sense to
choose Stop Press. MicroDesign
II would win oul for the printer
support alone.
September 89 8000 PLUS 47
Future perfect
Gelling into the habit ol using
subroutines in youi programs
has a less obvious value lo any
would-be programmers. Almosl
all other languages, and all
compiled languages, use the
equivalent of subroutines tor all
aspects ol the progam. While
they may be called procedures,
lunclions or blocks, they are
basically a collection ol
subroutines out of which the
whole program is built. Getting
into the habit ol thinking in this
way will help you it you ever
become involved in using other
programming languages.
48 8000 PLUS sepiemben
THINKINi
Geoffrey Childs introduces some good habits and mato
The most important part of any program in the
making is its subroutines. Now a subroutine is in
itself a mini program, and may require at least some
of the stages of development that we use on the
major program. If they are planned properly and carefully
written, well, in theory the rest shouldn't be at all difficult.
An unplanned subroutine, on the other hand, (and by that
I mean one that doesn't cater for all eventualities) may
cause more problems than a similar mistake in the main
body of the program; it's a simple case of look after the
pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.
Still, you've always got to start somewhere, and as
you will see with this month's ongoing construction of our
BRITMAP program, I usually start writing at line 5000. For
some reason or other I have a habit of reserving
lines 5000-5999 for subroutines. The number isn't
important, the acquisition of a habit is. I have other
habits such as using z$ for a keypress and so on.
Consistency makes for less mistakes as the programmer
will be aware that certain variables must not be used out
of their normal context. I prefer to use the shortest
variable names possible, but this is a matter of taste
possibly induced by bad spelling.
Some programmers use a subroutine library. This is
probably useful for a more organised person than myself.
There are two possible arguments against this practice:
the first is that rewriting familiar code may lead to
improvements; the second, that some standard
subroutines may need altering for a particular program,
and amendments can often take longer than rewriting
from scratch.
An alternative which I do sometimes use is to load a
similar program that I have written previously, find the
routines I am likely to reuse in the new program and then
delete the rest. Often, I don't bother. Programming is a
little like playing an innings at cricket. It is helpful to start
off with an easy ball, and the programmer can do this by
writing code to get a keypress, which will almost certainly
be one of the major subroutines required. Of course you
could begin with any simple subroutine.
You may hear suggestions that all subroutines should
be placed at the beginning of a program - or at the end.
This is not entirely an old wives' tale, but it makes virtually
no difference in Mallard Basic. Mallard has a useful knack
of converting a line number of a GOSUB into an absolute
address, so that each subroutine requires only a single
search. Less sophisticated interpreters search every time
they see a GOSUB. If that is so, assisting the interpreter
makes a program run faster.
While the obvious reason for subroutines is for code
that is used more than once in a program, I do not feel
that it is wrong to use a subroutine for coding that is only
used once. It may be less economical of space, but it can
also make the program more readable.
There should be an awareness of the balance
between these two considerations in the programmer's
mind. It is also possible that a subroutine used once in an
original program may be used again if the program is later
developed to include extra options.
On a slightly different subject, it might interest you to hear of some
of the considerations involved in calculating the distances between
towns. A change of one degree on a circle of longitude is about 69.1
miles. On a circle of latitude this is only true at the equator (since the
circles get smaller as they get nearer the poles). The change is
calculated by multiplying 69.1 by the Cosine of the latitude. Since the
changes in position are only very small fractions of the circles, we
can treat fhem virtually as straight lines. The vertical' (south to
north) change is calculated, and the horizontal' change is taken by
calculating at the middle value of the two latitudes. Pythagoras'
Theorem is then used to compute the distance between the two
towns 'as the crow flies'.
It Isn't all that difficult to calculate the great circle distance
between two points on the earth's surface without approximations,
but this uses a relatively complicated mathematical technique. There
is no point in programming to greater accuracy if the accuracy will
be meaningless.
Since computers use radians instead of degrees for trigonometric
functions such as Cos. it helps to know how to convert from one to
the other. To change degrees to radians, multiply by Pi and divide by
180. A convenient way to obtain Pi on a computer is to take 4'ATN(1).
You could also remember that it is approximately 3.14159265358.
Gosub for subroutines
Here are the communications routines for our BRITMAP
program. Line 5000 just takes a keypress. It is sensible to
return it as an Ascii number as well as a letter. Sometimes
it will be easier to use a number in the main program. Most
people use INKEY$, perhaps because the manual does,
but INPUT$(1) is much simpler.
5000z$=UPPER$(INPUT$(1)):z=ASC(z$):RETURN
The subroutine at 5010 may look easy, but is an important
one for good programming. x$ contains the letters for the
requested keypresses (e.g x$="DAC" for delete, add or
change) and the subroutine converts to a number i for a
correct entry. On return from the subroutine we are
prepared for an ON i GOTO or GOSUB. Many
programmers grossly underuse this useful facility.
5010 GOSUB 5000:i=INSTR(x$,z$):IF i THEN
RETURN:ELSE5010
Strings of IF.. THEN lines usually raise questions in my
mind about a programmer's ability. The subroutine at 5020
is frequently used in BRITMAP and is a straightforward
example of the use of the other two subroutines.
5020 PRINT FNa$(30,0);"Press A tor another,
M return to menu."
5030 x$="AM":GOSUB 5010:RETURN
This involves the one piece of mathematics in the program.
The routine finds the distance x between the two points (b
degrees North, a degrees West) and (d degrees North, c
degrees West).
5100 u=ABS(b-d)*69.1
5110cs=(b+d)/2'ATN(1)/45:v=ABS(c-a)*COS(cs)"69.1
5120 x=ROUND(SQR(u*u+v*v)):RETURN
L_
J
HABITS
ssure subroutines are the powerhouse for any program
This is the subroutine called in the initialisation of the
program. It is usually quicker to have all the necessary
tile information in arrays, so that there is not continual
disc access which takes time. The arrays have been
dimensioned already, and this demonstrates a simple
case of reading from both types of files (random and
sequential). Nothing to it. really, if you follow the rules.
CVS is used to convert the coded string, created by
MKS$, back to a normal variable.
5700 OPEN"i",1 ,"town.seq":INPUT #1 ,me
5710 FOR n=1 TO me:INPUT #1,e(n):NEXT:CLOSE
5720 OPEN"r",1,"town.ran",30
5730 FIELD 1,20 AS townS.4 AS latS,4 AS longS
5740 FOR n=1 TO me
5750IFe(n)=1 THEN GET
1,n:t$(n)=town$:lo(n)=CVS(long$):la(n)=CVS(lat$)
5760 NEXT:CLOSE:RETURN
As we said earlier, most of the program will use the right
side of the screen for a list of towns to which reference
can be made by number. The only slightly unusual
command is PRINT USING. This can often be a
convenient way to tidy a screen. Learning to use it
comes with experience, plus trial and error. By the way,
using IF e(n) is shorter than the more explicit IF e(n)<>0.
and has exactly the same effect.
5800 PRINT wr$+c$:FOR n=1 TO me
5810 IF e(n) THEN PRINT USING"##";n;:PRINT ".
"t$(n)
5820 NEXT:PRINT wl$:RETURN
The rest of the subroutines aren't as wildly exciting as
those we've looked at so far, but then subroutines often
aren't. But as they form the nuts and bolts of the program
we must include them.
Find the first unused entry.
5200n=1:WHILEn<31 AND
e(n)=1 :n=n+1 :WEND:RETURN
Subroutines to create a new record and check that the
town is on the map (en$ enables cursor. d$ disables it).
5300 PRINT en$;:INPUT"Enter name ot town:
",t$:PRINT d$;:RETURN
5310 PRINT en$;:INPUT"Enter degrees: ",a
5320 IF a<c OR a>d THEN
PRINT"Between"c"and"d:GOTO5310
5330 INPUT'Enter minutes: ",b
5340 IF b<0 OR b>=60 THEN PRINTUnder 60,
please!":GOTO 5330
5350 PRINT d$;:a=a+b/60:RETURN
Enter the new record in the random file.
5400 OPEN"r",1,"town.ran",30
5410 FIELD 1,20 AS townS.4 AS latS.4 AS longS
5420 LSET town$=tS(p):LSET lat$=MKS$(la(p)):LSET
long$=MKSS(lo(p))
5430 PUT 1,p:CLOSE:RETURN
And adjust the sequential file.
5450 OPEN"o",1,"town.seq":WRITE #1,me
5460 FOR n = 1 TO me: WRITE #1,e(n):
NEXT:CLOSE:RETURN
■
Choose a town, check that the record exists.
5500 INPUT"\p
5510 IF p<1 OR p>30 THEN PRINT'Try again":GOTO
5500
5520 IF e(p)=0 THEN PRINT'No entry for this number.
Try again" :GOTO 5500
5530 RETURN
The power of an efficient set of subroutines is
demonstrated clearly by the simplicity with which we can
now write option 2, which calculates the distance between
two towns:
2000 GOSUB 5800:PRINT en$;
2010 INPUT'Enter first town by number";p
2020 GOSUB 5510:a=lo(p):b=la(p)
2030 INPUT'Enter second town by number";p
2040 GOSUB 5510:PRINT d$;:c=lo(p):d=la(p)
2050 GOSUB 5100:PRINT:PRINTDistance is'V'mlles."
2060 GOSUB 5020:IF i=1 THEN PRINT c$:GOTO
2010:ELSE RETURN
Piece of cake, isn't it? The subroutine at 5500 is entered
on the second line as we need to make a more explicit
prompt than the general one.
Special Offers
Let me draw your attention to the two subroutines here. Users often complain of programs which do
not allow them to make best use of their disc systems. But, how do you find out from a program how
many discs a computer has? How do you check that an entered filename is acceptable? The boxes
show my solutions.
You do not need to understand machine code to use this subroutine - just copy it if you wish to
use it. The main routine uses a BIOS call, which sets the variable bf% to for A disc only, and to 1 for
A and B discs. The second subroutine (at 6050) is only called on a 2-drive machine. It checks whether
in fact there is a disc in the B drive. If there is not, then the variable bf% is increased to 2. The
PEEKing and POKEing at 64487 temporarily sets the CP M error mode to ignore errors. This is done
to avoid a request to put a disc in drive B if one is not found. BF stands for B Flag. It may be useful to
know that POKE 64487,254 will produce the CP M errors on the screen, but return to Basic rather than
the CP/M command line prompt.
6000 h=HIMEM:v=h-12:MEM0RY v-1 :REST0RE 6010
6010 DATA 229,205.90,252,230,0,60,238,1,225,119,201
6020 FOR n=v TO h-1:READ a:POKE n,a:NEXT
6030 CALL v(bf%):IF bf% THEN GOSUB 6050
6040 MEMORY h:RETURN
6050 q=64487.:p=PEEK(q):POKE q,255:f$=FINDS("b:V")
6060 IF ($="" THEN bf%=2
6070 POKE q,p:RETURN
FINDS will produce an error for most incorrect filenames which can be dealt with by an ON ERROR as
shown. If the disc is a physical drive, then there will be an unseemly and user-unidentifiable whirring,
so the trick is to use the M disc. A null filename does not produce an error in this case, so a separate
check is made for this.
7000 INPUT'Enter your filename: ",f$
7010 ON ERROR GOTO 7050
7020 IF f$="" THEN 7060
7030 gS=FIND$("m:"+f$)
7040 ON ERROR GOTO 0:RETURN
7050 RESUME 7060
7060 PRINT'Unsuitable name. Try again."CHRS(7):GOTO 7000
SepKmlw 69 8000 PLUS 49
UNHAPPY WITH YOUR PC W's PRINTER?
At last a high quality printer that's as flexible as LocoScript 2.
With a 24 Pin Printer and the 24 Pin Printer Drivers Disc from
Locomotive Software, you get really high quality printing of
ALL LocoScript 9 s characters, pitches etc - even on a PCW9512,
PIN PRINTERS ARE GOOD FOR 8000 OWNERS
With a PCW8256 or 8512 you can already print all of LocoScript's
characters on the built-in matrix printer. With a 24 Pin Printer "High
Quality" printing really will be High Quality! The built-in matrix has just
,9 pins - a 24 pin printer not only has more pins, but they are closer together.
This means that you get a better result. Most of these printers print in one
sweep across the paper - which makes a 24 Pin Printer much faster as well.
U PIN PRINTERS ARE GOOD FOR 9512 OWNERS TOO
^ The PCW9512's built-in printer gives good quality results but it is
noisy and slow - and it can only produce a small range of characters.
You cannot even mix upright and italic characters in the same document.
A 24 Pin Printer and the 24 Pin Printer Drivers disc will give you the full
range of characters (symbols, accents, Greek, even Cyrillic!), without
sacrificing quality.
If you're thinking of getting a better printer, then how about a NEC
P6 Plus. We think this is the best price/performance printer around and
it's available from us at £549 + VAT. We'll also throw in a connecting
cable and printer software FREE! Let us know if you've got an 8000 or
a 9512 so we can send the right cable - and remember you'll need a
CPS8256 Printer Interface if you have an 8256 or 8512. If your budget
is tighter, then how about the NEC P2200 at £349 + VAT.
If you've already got a 24 pin printer (such as an Epson LQ series,
NEC P2200, P6 Plus or P7 Plus..) just add the 24 Pin Printer Drivers disc.
For £24.95 inc VAT you'll get more from your printer than ever before!
The 24 Pin Printer Drivers can be used with the Amstrad LQ printers. However, please note that performance is
\ndle "d
poor compared with other printers because of the way the Amstrad printers han
which are essential for the provision of the full range of LocoScript 2 characters.
"downloaded characters"
■ Please send me the following products
\ FOR THE 8256/8512
■ 24 Pin Primer Drivers Disc* £24.95 □
■ NEC P6 Plus & Printer Drivers Disc* £63 1 .35 D
■ NEC P2200 & Primer Drivers Disc* £401 .35 D
, CPS 8256 Primer Interface £49.95 □
FOR THE 9512
J 24 Pin Printer Drivers Disc £24.95 □
■ NEC P6 Plus & Printer Drivers Disc £631.35 □
■ NEC P2200 & Printer Drivers Disc £40 1 .35 □
■ (• requires LocoScript 2)
■ Q I endow i cheque for TOTAL £
, | | Please charge my Accest/Visa card
Name.
Address^
Postcode .
i i
Please send to Katy Buchan at:
LOCOMOTIVE
SOFTWARE
Allen Court,
Dorking, Surrey,
TEL 0306 740606 RH4 1 YL
ote: til prices include VAT «nd UK postage
■ Note: all prices include VA I and UK pos
■ Signature Prices correct at lime of going to press
SHEETS TO THE WIND
A standard business tool missing from the PCW9512 is the sheet feeder.
Amstrad corrects its oversight.
Few of those paid to produce multiple copies ot letters,
invoices or apologies have time to stand and feed
letter-headed paper into a printer, which is the only
possible reason why anyone ever put up with the
vagaries of sheet feeders.
These are devices that attach to a printer and
automatically feed in cut sheet paper for as many copies as
the word processor requires. Unfortunately, they have
earned a reputation for being just a shade cranky - if not
downright hostile - so we approached this new one from
Amstrad with little enthusiasm; we were only half wrong.
The sheet feeder, revelling in the imaginative name of the
ASF9512, comes with a thin manual written by Susan Vass
of Amstrad and two new system discs. There is the latest
version of LocoScript for the 9512, version 2.29 and the
latest version of CP/M, version 2.9. The latter includes new
versions of the PAPER. DAISY and MATRIX utilities, all of
which will enable the sheet feeder and which can be used
from your PROFILE.SUB file.
Attaching the sheet feeder is the easiest part;
effectively, it simply sits on top of the standard daisywheel
printer - and is knocked off as easily. Using it is not quite so
straightforward.
Up to 30 sheets of paper can be stacked in the tray, so
you won't be leaving it to its own devices overnight, but this
is no bad thing. Sheet feeders traditionally only work while
someone is in the room to watch them, so having a
maximum of 30 letters that can go wrong is quite sensible -
you can never lose too much of your work.
With the latest version of LocoScript, operation is
actually very smooth and trouble free; the sheet feeder is
the default print option in the SETTINGS.STD file and it
works properly. Paper is fed through incrementally, always
ends up in the right position and feeds smoothly from sheet
to sheet. In several tests with quantities of paper from one
to 30 in the tray there was never a hitch, all the letters
printed in the correct position on the paper and it didn't snarl
up once. Full marks to Locomotive for that one, we actually
ended up trusting it.
Down side
Of necessity the sheet feeder sits on top of the printer, and
meant that we couldn't close the lid on the acoustic hood
that normally protects us from the trip hammer noise the
daisywheel printer produces. This meant that not only can
you leave it to print on its own but it's compulsory; only the
P=Frint document l)= Dire ct printing 1=1 ill H=Merg
fS=Document KSflUIiEB f7=Disc change f8=0ption
Options for PCH9S12
i.iim»fTr.r
Ribbon tgpe
Cloth
• Multi-strike
Single strike
Impression control
Low
j Medium
High
9k free 16 files
30k MEMOS 2k
Ok LABELS 2k
•k INVOICE 4k
k MfllLSHOI 4k
ANUSCRP 1 files
D limbo files
LATE.STD 2k
II can be disabled bolh Irom LocoScri
ASF9512 Sheet Feeder • E99+VAT •
Amstrad • 0277 228888
Pluses Minuses
▲ Multiple prints with letter heads T Difficult to use from CP/M
▲ Instant LocoScript upgrades T Won't fit in most acoustic hoods
A Reliable with LocoScript T Can't use with A5 portrait
E ASE OF USE
RANGE OF FEATURES 4
PERFORMANCE
DOCUMENTATION
VALUE VERDICT 4
deaf can work next to a daisy wheel in full flight.
The only other real deficiency under LocoScript is due to the design of the
hardware rather than the software. The paper guides, which have to be accurately
positioned, won't go closer than 61 4", so no A5 paper in portrait orientation; a minor
niggle since offices usually have A4 letter heads anyway, but a nuisance for clubs
perhaps who may use smaller paper sizes.
Not so good on the CP/M side of things. In the half day available to test the
ASF9512 we failed to get it working correctly or reliably. The problem is positioning
the paper. The standard self-loading feature doesn't carry the paper far enough
through when positioning the first sheet, and obviously no CP/M word processor has
been designed to cope with it.
We tried it with Protext, but although it worked, after a fashion (and after we'd
changed the default to continuous paper), it didn't work right. The form feed at the end
of each copy feeds in another sheet but it never gets to the same position twice. Not
only that, but using the same paper as before it relentlessly ended in paper jams. This
appears to be because the print head doesn't move to the centre to guide the paper
past the bail bar under CP/M.
Most word processors have the ability to send printer control codes and using
these it ought to be possible to duplicate the action of LocoScript - but you'd have to
have a good reason to bother when LocoScript is more than capable of the job. Once
again LocoScript proves its strengths in complete control of the printing process. ■
51 8000 PLUS Sep-emM,
RASCAL
WIRTH LEARNING
Steve Patient learns to parley Pascal (un petit soupcon) and tells it like it is.
Pascal is the computer language of choice among academics. This is so
for three major reasons: its claimed ease of learning, its logical structure
and because it was written by one of them. A consequence of this fact is
that there are an awful lot of books available on using Pascal. It means
also that just about every course on computing either includes instruction
in Pascal or assumes some previous knowledge of the language. Read on
and find out why Pascal is so highly regarded.
He's done it
again
Niklaus Wirth went on to design
one of the best languages around
for ease of programming. Modula
2. Unlike Pascal Modula 2 was
written with Micro computers and
ease ol compilation in mind. In
many ways it is a much more
practical language though it
hasn't really caught the
programming publics imagination.
Coming to a page near you soon.
Programming should be fun, unless you're getting
paid for it of course and then it should be hard,
mind-numbing work. But all too often a fun program
in Basic can become hard graft, usually when it
won't work and you can't figure out why. At that point
there's nothing to do but try and follow through the logic of
your program.
It's often only when you come to do this that you find
that your program seems to be all over the place, jumping
from here to there and back without rhyme or reason;
you've written spaghetti.
Wirth decided that programmers needed a language
that would encourage them to write in a modular form; in
fact, force them to. Of course you can do this in any
language. In Basic, this would entail writing programs using
just a main loop and a series of subroutines (it can be done
- see last month's Listings). Every subroutine should have
only one entrance to it and one exit from it.
Programming using procedures like this means that
programs are much easier to understand; the flow of logic
Historical perspecl
In the beginning there was Algol 60, a language designed by Nicklaus Wirth and which never really
took off. Commercially everyone was using Cobol and the scientific community used
Fortran, Academics hated these languages because they hadn't written them and they didn't
work the way they thought they should. Undaunted, Wirth and a few friends (Djikstra
and Hoare) got together and In 1970 designed Pascal, embodying all the principles they'd advo
over the years.
Wirth named it after a man he
admired, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), an
extremely able French mathematician
who designed a mechanical calculator to
help his father, a tax collector, In his
work. Everyone carried right on using
Cobol and Fortran.
However, the academics had the
upper hand since they were in a position
to insist that Pascal was taught as part of
computer theory on all their courses, and
so it slowly but certainly grew in
popularity. With the advent of micro
computers and amateur programmers,
Pascal became very very popular -
except in the business and scientific
communities where people carried right
on using Cobol and Fortran,
Doctor Niklaus Wirth (which is
pronounced Veert, just to spoil all
those bad puns) was, (and perhaps
still is) head of the Computer Science
Department at Eldgenossische Tec-
ihe Hochschulein in Switzerland.
hniscl
within them is clearer. A program written by one Pascal
programmer will look much like one written by another, and
they should have little trouble following each others' code.
In fact so verbose and explanatory is Pascal that even
those who don't know the language are supposed to be
able to figure out what's happening in a program. Of course
you're far too intelligent to believe this for a moment.
The other claimed strength of Pascal is that it is
strongly typed, which means that, for example, you can't
compare a character variable with a number. Unfortunately,
since this is something programmers often have to do,
provision has to be made to get round it by providing
functions that convert characters to numbers, just as in
Basic. In fact strong typing tends to be something more
beloved of theorists and those who write the documentation
than of programmers.
Edit, compile, crash
All Pascal implementations are compilers of one kind or
another. Some compile directly to a COM file that you can
use independently of the language system while others
compile to an intermediate P code that needs the support
of a run time program (which must be loaded first) thus
combining the worst features of compiled and interpreted
languages.
If there is one thing on which all programmers agree it
is that the language they use is the best; for all sorts of
reasons. So what makes Pascal programmers so keen?
The main selling point has to be the highly structured
nature of the language.
If you look at our example program, you'll see that the
first thing in it is the name of the program. Every Pascal
program has to have a name. The next thing is a list of the
global constants and variables; these can be used by any
procedure anywhere in the program. It is, of course,
considered very good style to put them all at the beginning
in any language.
The fundamental building block of Pascal is the block,
which is a group of statements which must start with a
beginning and finish with an end. Each block can have its
own local variables. Each statement within the block (and
almost everywhere else) must end in a semi-colon, which
delimits the statements. This doesn't apply to the last
statement within the block since there isn't another one. so
you can miss out the last one. This kind of pedantry seems
designed to confuse but most compilers won't object to a
semi-colon after every statement.
Stringing along
After blocks come procedures, which can contain blocks, as
you can see in our example. Each of these must have a
unique name. At the head of each procedure you can
define local variables which are only available to that
procedure. Procedures can also have values or pointers to
values passed to them, which are allocated to an internal
variable and worked on. This leaves the original value
intact, which can be very important if various different
procedures need to access the same variables sequentially
but get the same values.
Procedures can use various control structures to
achieve their effects. There is the WHILE-WEND loop,
52 8000 PLUS Sepiemteresl
RASCAL
familiar to Basic programmers, but which doesn't need a wend; it acts on
the block which follows it. There is a REPEAT-UNTIL construct, a FOR-TO
loop which acts like a Basic FOR-NEXT loop, an IF-THEN-ELSE for
decision-making as well as the case construct which will be less familiar to
Basic programmers. As you can see from the example program,
procedures can call themselves as well as contain other procedures.
For those familiar with Basic, the biggest shock will be the way in which
Pascal handles strings; reluctantly. What you get is not a string but an array
of characters. In fact it is usually a packed array, which means that it takes
very little more space than you would expect. Of course you can read lines
of text in using the READLN function but Pascal makes the whole process
of interacting dynamically with your computer unnecessarily fraught.
Logically correct
Pascal knows when it has reached the last character in a line or a file
because it has been designed to look at the next character before deciding.
This means that it is really one character ahead all the time. This works well
with a disc file, paper tape or a punched card input but not so well with a
keyboard. You might want your program to print a message when you press
Q to quit a process but Pascal won't act on it since it's buffering input one
character ahead; you need to give it a dummy character first and let it
throw that away.
The reasons for this are fairly sensible. When Pascal was written you
couldn't do it anyway, you interacted in batch mode with a mainframe and
waited until the following morning for the results. For this reason the
interactive aspects of Pascal are poorly defined and very variable from one
implementation to another. Bad luck.
The good side of this mess is that virtually all Pascals work much better
than you'd suppose. Most companies have thrown away the original
specification and provided extensive functions for input/output from the
keyboard. Hisoft's Pascal80 goes so far as to allow you to bypass the
language completely and go straight to the CP/M BDOS calls; a much
better solution. File handling in standard Pascal is no more hideous than in
any other computer language; it treats all input and output as to and from
files, even the keyboard and console are treated as no more than the
default input and output files.
Final thoughts
So, is Pascal all it's cracked up to be? Is it the ideal language for the
beginner? No. In use Pascal feels very fussy, much more so than Basic.
Everything has to be exactly right before it will compile, but having said
that, once it does compile it will probably run the way you expect it to. For
developing a large program it would be good since it does force you to work
in an orderly manner, but then, if you were disciplined enough to build large
programs it probably wouldn't matter what language you worked in.
Pascal lacks a certain sense of adventure, exactly what its designers
intended. Assembler, for example, is exciting simply because of the risk of
everything going wrong. Pascal is supposed to prevent things from going
wrong. The amateur programmer, building programs as a hobby, might find
it dull. Also, since even the simplest program takes a bit of setting up it isn't
the ideal choice for quick and dirty' programs like file filters. Pascal is
reliable, but lacks excitement. ■
Buyers' guide
There are several sources of Pascal. If you merely want to learn the language and
already know your way around the PCW go for the public domain version; it's a
complete implementation but you'll need an editor and an understanding of how
things work, It's a rather old program that requires you to link bits together and so on.
The best current Pascal programming environment is provided by Hisoft's
Pascal80, along with the fastest compile times, the smallest COM files and the fastest
code. For serious work it's probably the best there is. PDQ Pascal will only work
on 720k drives (see the review in issue 28) and is in all respects an absolute dog.
The high price of ProPascal is a bit of a puzzle; it's good, but not that good.
JRT Pascal is In the public domain on Sig M 82, the documentation is on CP MggNL
1082 (Dutch library but in English), Join the CP M User Group UK and get it for under
a fiver -It's very good.
Name Supplier Telephone Price
Pascal MT. Grey Matters 0344 53499 £99
ProPascal Grey Matters 0344 53499 E240
Pascal80 Hisoft 0525718181 £49.50
PDOPascal Pecan 0272 425012 £29.95
MAPLE CODES
This sample program is designed to take a string
and print out all possible anagrams of it. Since
this is a factorial function any string over five
letters will produce a lot of text. Most of the
program is procedures, the two lines in the block
at the end actually constitute the program.
Program anagram (input, output);
var In : packed array [1..10] of char;
i:1..10;
len : 0..10;
procedure readline;
begin
len :=0;
i:=1;
begin
read(ln[i]);
while not eoln and (i < 10) do
begin
read(ln[i]);
len:=i;
i:=i+1;
end;
end;
ln[i]:= ';
i:=1;
end;
procedure moveit (krinteger);
var i:1..10;
procedure swap;
var tempxhar;
begin
temp:=ln[i];
In [i]:=ln[k];
ln[k]:=temp;
end; (* end of swap *)
begin (* moveit *)
if k=1 (* if it does then we finish *)
then
writeln(ln)
else
begin
moveit(k-l); ('recursive call*)
for i:=1 to k-1 do
begin
swap;
moveit(k-i);
swap
end;
end;
end; (*moveit*)
begin
readline;
moveit(len)
end.(*full stop marks end of program *)
SefHemBeilB 8000 PLUS 53
REVIEW
All for one
A macro is a siring ol key
strokes which can be executed
by pressing just two keys.
Many modern programs have
the facility to do this. You
simply tell the software to
record all ol the following key
presses and save them lor later
use. In Money Manager they
save a lot ol time where
repetitive entries have to be
made and are easily defined
from within the program.
YOU'VE SPENT IT
David Frost looks at Money Manager PCW
MONEY MANAGER PCW
£49.95 • Connect Software Ltd • 01 743 9792
Money Manager PCW is the latest in the Money Manager
series by Connect who claim software sales in excess of
20.000 units. It's aimed at private individuals, small
businesses, clubs and other people who might find a larger
accounting package too complex or expensive for their
needs. It runs on all PCWs, but 9512 owners won't be able
to print the graphics on the standard printer. Other printers,
however, are supported. The comprehensive 60 page
manual together with screen prompts makes the program
easy to use; additionally there is free hot line support.
Each of Money Manager's files covers a twelve-month
period with up to 500 entries per month. The program
concentrates on income and expenditure which it
Pie ekart In (tpr-83
Total Mount in pic
NM« ItviN
133.11
111 classes
Queen's Clufe
la til Bile Soc:
twertra lani:
A visual representation sometimes makes il easier lo spot deviation from normal patterns of expenditure
categorises in three ways. Firstly, there is a choice of up to
20 accounts. These would usually include your bank,
building society, credit cards, main suppliers, customers and
perhaps cash. Businesses would need a cash account, but
private individuals could find recording every penny pretty
wearisome. Other headings to consider are debtors and
creditors. Then there are up to 50 class codes which help
categorise income and expenditure still further. For example
Pluses
▲ Needs little computer or accounting
expertise
▲ Comprehensive guidance, good
manual and screen menu
▲ Easy to use
RANGE OF FEATURES
EASE OF USE
Minuses
T Too limited for the, bigger business
T Over featured for domestic use
PERFORMANCE
DOCUMENTATION
8000 PLUS VALUE FOR MONEY
54 8000 PLUS September 89
class codes beginning with C might refer to your PCW with
C1 being software, C2 hardware, and so on. The generic
code CO would cover all other computer transactions.
Finally each transaction can be allocated a mark. You can
define up to 50 of these and use them to subdivide the class
codes. For example if you have a PC and a PCW you might
use C to indicate transactions affecting the PC and W for
those affecting the PCW.
Mark well
Defining account, class and mark codes needs care but
gives great flexibility in analysing income and expenditure.
Analysis covers any period from one to twelve months and
can be further subdivided by account, class and mark in any
combination. Taking the example in the previous paragraph
you could ask for an analysis showing all bank transactions
relating to PCW software in any given period.
Another useful facility is the option of displaying
information in the form of a bar chart or pie chart. A visual
representation often makes it easier to spot deviations from
normal expenditure patterns.
If you are registered for VAT this can be included and a
VAT statement produced. Various ways of presenting
balances and account statistics are available and
reconciliation is possible. Every so often one 'loses' a vital
entry and to help find it there is a string search facility.
Although primarily designed for tracking expenditure, it is
possible to use the program for the production of budgets
as well.
Even without the use of macros (eight macros can be
defined and stored) data entry and analysis is easy with
clear screen menus and prompts, and a help facility if you
get lost. Another useful facility is a pop- up calculator; its
answers can be inserted directly in the file.
Business sense
Any purpose-designed accounts system has to be
measured not only against its fellows, but against a
spreadsheet like Supercalc 2. The spreadsheet wins on
cost and versatility, it is not limited to accounting
calculations. But Money Manager does things which
Supercalc finds difficult and in some cases - graphics -
impossible. Spreadsheets take time to set up whereas
Money Manager can be used with the minimum of
preparation.
Whether you need a program like this for domestic
accounts is a matter of taste, but anyone running a small
business or acting as a club treasurer will find Money
Manager invaluable. Its range of codes should satisfy most
requirements and the only limitation is the maximum 500
entries per month. However, this is around 20 for every
working day and is unlikely to be a problem.
The main drawbacks are the ease with which entries
can be altered or erased, an aspect which accountants may
not be keen on, and the relatively restricted scope of the
program. Before changing your accounting system it would
be wise to discuss the matter with your accountant. Overall
this is a capable program, very easy to learn and use, and
one which will satisfy many people's accounting
requirements. ■
Com-Stax
THE ULTIMATE SPACE SAVER
Interesting solution interesting price' says 8000 Plus
The new Com-Stax 8 Series is
a unique stand that will
stack your PCW 8256 or 8512
plus your keyboard and printer in
under a quarter ot a square
metre of door space Its
reclining monitor position
and angled keyboard make
the PCW even more user
Iriendly The Com-Stax is
98 cm high. 41 cm wide
and beautifully finished in
durable red. white or black
lacquer, the unit comes to
you as a flat pack kit which is
easily assembled in minutes
with the alien key provided
THE PRICE: £35.00
PLUS VAT £5.25 and P&P COO
TOTAL C44.95
TO ORDER:
Post your cheque tor £44.95
together with your name and address
and choice ot colour red white or black to
COM-STAX LTD, FREEPOST, LONDON, SW5 OBR
Tel: 01 .244 8292
Plust iiloa ?8 d»p Iw deln«« tin Com-SUi B a Cotniijhl mmi" filwl iaot'M <«
61 GhaiCn P1«c« LmOon WC2N 4HG
please quote 8
ENHANCED, GREATLY
Ansiblelndex PLUS!
The fully-featured LocoScript
indexer, now UPGRADED.
Easier to use, more powerful,
same price .
Ansiblelndex PLUS will index
from your LocoScript
documents:
* Words and phrases
* Inverted phrases
* Headings and sub-headings
' Themes and sub-themes
" Choice of automatic alphabet sorting
We include an improved version of Check . . . fast LocoScript
word counter. Counts a whole document, several in one go . . .
or just a small section of text. (Also available separately.)
And the dreaded Grease is more fiendish than ever . . .
Price: £29.95
We also supply A.I.Q. . . the Amstrad PCW random text
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(sometimes) results. No other PCW program is like A.I.Q
Price: £25.95
Request our info sheet for more details. If you are an
existing user of the old Ansiblelndex, please write to us
at once for details of how to get your low-price upgrade.
All Ansible software comes with a manual written in plain
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after-sales support. No extras!
ANSIBLE INFORMATION
94 London Road
Reading
Berkshire, RG1 5AU
England
Tel: 0672 62576
CF2 DISCS
IN SHORT SUPPLY? NO! PRICE INCREASE? NO!
HUGE STOCKS AVAILABLE FROM COPY COMM
MAXELL CF2
£ 19.95 for 10
(£ 10.95 for 5)
AMSOFT CF2
£22.95 for 10
(£ 11.95 for 5)
AMS 30L DELUXE
DISK STORAGE BOX
The long-awaited replacement for the old favourite AMS 20L is here at last!
* SLIMLINE DESIGN * SUPERB FINISH *
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* SUPERIOR HINGE MECHANISM*
* READY ASSEMBLED *
* HOLDS 15 (CASED) OR 30(UNCASED) 3" DISCS *
SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICE
£ 11.95
DUST COVER SETS
* HEAVY-DUTY PVC* NEUTRAL COLOURED *
* WHITE STITCHED BINDING * ANTI-STATIC *
* WATERPROOF * FLAME-RETARDANT *
2 piece sets have combined monitor keyboard cover plus seperate printer covei
3 piece sets have seperate monitor, keyboard and printer covers.
2 or 3 PIECE SETS AVAILABLE FOR PCW 8256/8512 or PCW 9512
£9.95
RIBBONS
** TOP QUALITY - FULL LENGTH - GUARANTEED **
PCW 8256/8512
MULTISTRIKE FABRIC RIBBON
As fitted as original equipment.
Black £4.95 each
Red, Blue, Brown or Green £ 5.95 each
MULTISTRIKE CARBON RIBBON
Black Only £ 6.95 each
PCW 9512
MULTISTRIKE FILM RIBBON
As fitted as original equipment.
Black £3.95 each
Brown Or Blue £4.95 each
MULTISTRIKE FABRIC RIBBON
Black £4.95 each
Red, Blue, Brown or Green £ 5.95 each
9512 PRINTWHEELS
ALL UK STYLES AVAILABLE
MINI GOTHIC 15 • PRESTIGE ELITE 12 • THESIS PS '
• SCRIPT 12 • PRESTIGE PICA 10 • ORATOR 10 *
• LETTER GOTHIC 10/12 * COURIER 10 * RECTA 10 "
£5.95
SEND FOR OUR FULL PCW CATALOGUE
PLEASE ORDER QUICKLY!
We can only guarantee to hold these prices while current stocks last. If we sell
out and a price increase is forced on us before we receive your order you will
be notified by return of post and your payment returned. Remember that you
can confirm availability and price by phone. We will reserve stock for up to 5
days if you are posting an order.
ALL OUR PRICES INCLUDE VAT & POSTAGE
ORDERS POSTED NEXT WORKING DAY
COPY COMM LTD
Aytounhill, CUPAR, Fife KY14 6JH, Scotland
ORDERS TO:
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(Mon to Fri, 9 to 5 - Human Being. Other Times - Infernal Mach
FAX: 033 77 445 (Anytime!)
VISA ■ BARCLAYCABD - ACCESS - MASTERCARD • AMERICAN EXPRESS - Oh .
3" Brand New AMSTRAD/PANASONIC internal lilting 1mb (720K formatted)
drives using CF2 discs, with simple instructions tor DIY. Just "Plug In & Go'.
NB. BEWARE ol secondhand drives ottered as new at lower prices.
* FD4 second drive for PCW 8256 and PCW 9512 (C107.87 *) = £124
* FD2 second drive for PCW 8256 (as available) (£112.17 +) = £129
* NEW FD1 for PCW 8256/8512 drive A replacement (£86.09 *) = £99
* NEW FD4 for PCW 9512 drive A replacement (£103.48 +) = £119
MEMORY UPGRADES
Upgrade your PCW 8256 memory to 512K with our best selling kit.
Our simple instructions assume no prior knowledge, experience, or skills.
We supply TOP QUALITY chips which are jig preformed for ease ol insertion.
NO BENDING REQUIRED, plus a 'Practice' chip. Simply Plug In & Go'.
* PCW 8256 256K Memory Upgrade Kit to 512K (£34.74 ♦) = £39.95
SAVE £5 on above when purchasing with a 3"drive.
DESK TOP PUBLISHING
MicroDesign II
"The Rolls Royce of PCW desk-top publishing"
"Beats the opposition hands down".
An astonished Rex Last. Amstrad PCW
"This beats the lot ...puts its rivals to shame" New Computer Express
"Helpful ...powerful...comprehensive...results are superb" The Guardian
THE INTEGRATED PAGE PROCESSOR FOR THE PCW
SERIOUS DTP. Huge range of Fonts. Typestyles and Typesetting functions. Extensive
Graphic Art and Design facilities. Text Editor. UNDO feature. Specialised pnnter software
for highest quality output. Compatible with 9 pin, 24 pin S Laser printers, Most W/Ps and
most DTP programs.
* MicroDesign II £49.95 With AMX Mouse £89.95
We will beat any lower price providing the advertiser has stocks.
9 AND 24 PIN DOT MATRIX PRINTERS
We have researched budget printers lor you and STAR is the outright winner
with Panasonic the only close contender, we rejected Amstrad. Brother, Citizen
, Epson ( reliability ) and NEC ( jamming ). The Star LC-10 was voted 'Best Dot
Matrix Printer' by What Micro and 8000 Plus. The Star LC24-10 was chosen by
the PC Independent Users Club and PC Plus.
* STAR LC-10 Multifont 9 pin 144cps draft, 36cps NLQ (£145 +) = £166.75
* STAR LC24-10 Superb 24 pin 170cps/57cps LQ (£255 +) = £293.25
NB Printer cables required. 24 pin driver software optional extra for LC24-10, the
ONLY 24 pin printer tested by PC Plus that gave acceptable results when
driven by software whiten for 9 pin printers.
PERIPHERALS AND ACCESSORIES
PRINTER CABLES. Top Quality. PCW 9512 to Star etc (Centronics) £7.95
PCW 8256/8512 (Interlace required) to Star etc Centronics Printer £9.95
RIBBONS ( Minimum 2 ) LC-10 £4.60; 5+ £4.30: LC24-10 £5.75; 5+ £5.25
Auto Load Cut Sheet Feeder. LC-10 (£60 +) = £69: LC24-10 (£60+) =£69
BBD Dust Covers LC-10/LC24-10 £5.50: 8256/8512 £11.45: 9512 £13.45
INTERFACES. Parallel/Serial for PCW 8256/8512 printer etc connection.
SCA Professional. Highly regarded. Full featured (£40.87 +) = £47
SCA Professional Plus. As above + real lime clock/cat (£50 +) = £57.50
MASTER SCAN Optical scanner attaches to 8256/8512 printer head. Digitises
most pictures to save lor Graphics and DTP programs (£46.04 +) = £52.95
MASTER PAINT Graphics package £13.95 With AMX Mouse £67.50
MASTER PACK. Master Scan ♦ Paint £58.95 With AMX MOUSE £109
AMX MOUSE t Interlace with through Connector.' Best '8000+ £47.50
MOUSE MAT Amstrad Professional Computing" Logo. Special offer £3.95
SOFTWARE
Locomotive Software for the PCW 8256/8512
24 Pin Pnnter Dnvers £22.95; Printer Drivers Disc (• CharKit) £17.95
Locolonl • Set 1 £18.95 Locotont - Set 2 £13.95; LocoFile £23.50 LocoScnpl 2 £21.50;
LocoSpell £17.95; LocoScnpl 2 ♦ LocoSpell £28.50
For the PCW 9512
24 Pin Printer Drivers £22.95; Printer Drivers Disc (. CharKit) £18.95 LocoFile £23.50
For all PCWs LocoFont 24 Text £23.50; LocoFont 24 Display £23.50
Minimum order £10. Courier Delivery £8
Bold prices include VAT and UK post , normally by return.
Send cheques/Money orders: or Plc/LA/Covt orders
SILICON CITY
Dept 8, Wheal Rose, Redruth, Cornwall TR16 5DR
Access/Visa orders: Telephone 0209 891 141
(Coolchance Lid)
DATA - ACCESS
Printer Ribbon Re-Inking Service
Have your FABRIC printer ribbon fully re-inked by the experts and save
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Our guarantee - send your used FABRIC printer ribbon plus payment
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Black - Brown • Orange - Blue - Green - Red - Purple
ribbons all re-inked in original colour
Trial Offer only £1 .30 per ribbon (send as many as you wish, we will
even pay postage both waysl)
Send ribbon(s) plus payment to:- Data - Access (Dept 8+) FREEPOST,
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» Ribbon re-inkers to Educational & Local Authorities«
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(77 Penylan Road - LLanelli - Oyted SA IS tJG)
Desktop Publishing Accessory Discs
HOI CLIPS * FONTS MUD (NB'"I
1 2 Versatile fonts plus 60 clip an illustrations
HD2 DESKTOP MAGIC C12.S0 (NB - !
I00'5ol clip art graphics including. Oogs. Cats. Cars.
Buildings Advertising Aids and many more, plus the
amazing border maker. 90 graphics tor trims and Bor-
ders
(NB' HO 142 are available lor all DTP except the
Desktop Publisher)
HD3 "IMAGE KIT- CI 2.50
(Available tor all 0TP)44 Selected larger graphics,
from Spitfires to Butterflies, from Cannons to Steam
Trains
H04 "POSTER KIT" CI 2.50
(Available lor all DTPlLarger cut and paste lettering m
four styles inc Olde English outline
HD5 "PAGE MAGIC" C12 50
(Available for all DTPlThis disk contains figures, por
warts, a selection ol digitized pictures and t4 teady
made decorative frames
CLIP PACK ( NB** )A selection ol 280
graphics from HO 1 & 2 and formatted to'
^t\g Desktop Publisher **C12.50
ALL DISCS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH
MICRODESIGN II
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Databases
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Desk Top Publisher _ £21.95
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Locotont (10 tonts) £16.95
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Educational
Maths Mania (8-12) £13.95
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Training
Two Fingers To Touch Typing £19.95
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Reellime • Iocoscnpt2 (9512) £29.95
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£14.95
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Money Manager Plus - £34.95
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Ribbons (Uin 2)
8 Series Compat Fabric £3.50
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K3
frUMK-e-
. POSTAGE AND PACKING,
I've been groaning my way
through more unpublishable
typescripts, and suspect it's
time for some tub-thumping
fundamentalism. What passes for
punctuation in these benighted
times is quite frequently enraging.
Sage advice and maddening
pedantry follow herewith.
Apostrophes. If you write "it's" as a
possessive pronoun, editors will
call you illiterate. (Its only correct
use is as a contraction of "it is".)
Beware of Grocer's English, where
the apostrophe is used for all
plurals: "tomato's" instead of
lomatoes" and so on. Many
people get confused by possessive
plurals and words ending in S: the
pips of several tomatoes are "the
tomatoes' pips", but Steve
Whatsisname is "8000 Plus's
editor", not "8000 Plus' editor".
Brackets. I use too many... do
as I say, not as I do. When writing
English as opposed to
mathematics, resist the temptation
to flaunt the PCWs square, curly or
angle brackets. (However, if you
ask nicely I'll permit you to use
square brackets to distinguish a
parenthesis within a parenthesis
[like this].)
Colons. The colon is tricky
because it has two uses:
introducing a list (as here) for
example, and, more rarely, linking
two sentences to point up their
contrast. "I am a columnist: you are
not." Business English tends to put
a superfluous dash after a colon
which introduces a list — but let's
stick to English English. ("Who is
this guy Colin Dash?" said my
American pal.) Many Americans
capitalize the word following a
colon. This is incorrect, even
according to many other
Americans, but is spreading over
here thanks to cheapskate
publishers who photo-offset
from US books.
Commas. These are most often
misused as an illiterate means of
stringing sentences together, for
example this "sentence" should be
broken into two with a full stop or
given another punctuation mark
instead of its comma. (SF author
Harry Harrison is a persistent
offender in this respect.) Warning
to 8256/8512 owners: as your
ribbon fades, keep an eye on the
tails of printed-out commas.
They're the first things to vanish
when greyish print is xeroxed, and
prose doesn't half look illiterate
when all the commas turn into
full stops.
Dashes. Thank goodness,
we've escaped the elegant
anonymity of past centuries' dash-
spattered novels: "In the year 18 —
a young man might have been
observed purchasing a copy of
8000 P — in the town of B — . He
glanced within and ejaculated,
'D — !'" The dash is a more frenetic
and breathless version of the
colon, which can also mark
parenthetical phrases like ersatz
brackets or commas. How to type
it? Space-hyphen-space is
common, but sometimes this slips
into print as a mere hyphenation.
Space-hyphen-hyphen-space
makes your intention clearer. Some
writers prefer double or even triple
hyphens with no spacing at all.
Ellipses. See full stops....
Exclamation marks. Use them
very sparingly!! There's no
grammatical rule against slapping
exclamation marks on every
sentence you think is dramatic,
clever or witty. However, this is the
literary equivalent of laughing loudly
at your own jokes while digging
violently at the listener's ribs.
Full stops. You must have
noticed them, those little dots at
the ends of sentences. Put three
together and you have an ellipsis...
like that.
Many publishers like you to put
a space before three dots. When
ending a sentence with an ellipsis,
pedantic writers use four dots....
Don't overdo this: it's a way of
nudging the reader to hint that
Things Are Being Left Unsaid, and
(as with exclamation marks) people
resent too much nudging.
Inverted commas. See
"quotation marks".
Parentheses. (See brackets.)
Question marks. Surprisingly
many writers fail to notice that
they've just written a rhetorical
question, and mistakenly end it
with a full stop. Or do they assume
that because such a question (like
this one) doesn't actually expect an
answer, it's not a real question?
Quotation marks. Use double
quotes as mentioned last issue,
unless your publisher begs you to
follow a different house style.
Quotations within quotations get
single quotes; quotations within
A page in
the company
of author and
PCW pundit
David Langford
quotations within quotations are
probably a mistake, but it's back to
double quotes again. (And so on.)
Punctuation goes outside the
quotes for isolated phrases or
words, like "this", but inside for
speeches: "Do it this way," said
Langford. (American usage differs.)
In Grocer's English, quotation
marks are used merely for
emphasis. Discerning readers can
thus enjoy placards saying things
like "Fresh " Lettuce, which actually
conveys that the word "fresh"
should be pronounced in tones of
extreme sarcasm.
Semicolons. I am addicted to
semicolons; readers may have
noticed this terrible habit. Use
them to link vaguely related
sentences when complete
separation with a full stop seems
a bit too sundering. The decision
tends to be a matter of personal
style rather than grammatical
compulsion. Downmarket
newspapers will probably convert
all your semicolons to full stops
anyway, and then start a new
paragraph after each full stop.
This is supposed to make for
easier reading — just as a meal is
so much easier to eat when
each potato is served as a
separate course.
Spaces. The space is the most
important mark of all, and the most
abused. Of late I've seen spaces
put immediately before full stops,
commas, question and exclamation
marks, semicolons, colons and
right-hand brackets — as well as
immediately after left-hand
brackets. All these disgusting
practices must stop at once. Nor
will you be forgiven should you
sleazily omit the space after the full
stop, comma, question mark and
so on. Some typing purists demand
two or even three spaces following
each full stop, but this remains
wholly optional.
Speaking of space, I've used up
all mine. For further reading,
consult G.V.Carey's Mind the Stop
or Kenneth Tynan's substantially
funnier essay on punctuation in
Tynan Right and Lett. ■
September*) 8000 PLUS 57
P c w
Tool Kit
i_ i
is now available for all Amstrad PCW models.
li is designed to allow anyone to examine, copy and recover information trom
damaged or corrupted discs. Although ToolKit is a lull-function disc editor,
you don't need to be an expert to use it! The manual too is comprehensive
but straightforward, and includes features such as a 'First Aid' section for
quick answers in an emergency.
PCW-ToolKit costs just £24.95
How much is YOUR data worth ?
MFU fc» PCW0M6 and PCWB51J E49.95
Universal Multi-Format Utility. Allows the PCW to emulate other CP/M formats,
analyse discs, transfer files from other systems and much more
2in1 io* pcwa?56 and PCW8512 £49.95
Transfer files to and from IBM-PCs on disc, format PC discs on the PCW
5.25" Disc Drives for PCW8256 and PCW9512
for PCW8512
E139.95
El 69.95
All prices INCLUDE V.A.T. and Postage to U.K. and BFPO addresses.
Please write or phone lor our catalogue; overseas enquiries welcome.
MOONSTONE
computing
Strathclyde Business Centre
Clyde Street
CLYDEBANK G81 1PF
041 - 941 - 3120
PUT THAT MANUAL
DOWN-
AND LISTEN!
/fyou want to master a new computer or
program, but don't have time to waste or
money to burn, a Reeltime Audio-disc training
course will teach you in a fraction of the time.
Just switch on your computer and play the tapes -
your tutor will talk you through the course in a
series of easy-to-follow exercises.
Learn at your own speed on your own computer -
andtakeasmuch time as you need!
AMSTRAD COURSES
Amstrad CPC 6128 £29.95
PCW95l2-Loco2 £29.95
PCW82S6-L0C01 £29.95
PCW 8256 -Loco 2 £29.95
CP/M Computing £29.95
AmstradPC1640 £29.95
Amstrad PC Extended £49.95
AmstradPC2086 £29.95
PC2086 Extended £49.95
Amstrad PPC Portable £29.95
5uperCalc3(&4) £29.95
WordStar Express £29.95
GENERAL COURSES
IBMXT
IBM PC/AT Extended
Desktop Publishing
WordStar Prof 3.3
dBase II
Timeworks Publisher
£29.95
£49.95
£49.95
£29.95
£29.95
£29.95
/^euUvi&\
All courses available by return. All prices include
P+P but exclude VAT. Send your cheque to:
Headline Communication Ltd.,
PO Box 22, Hereford HR4 8UW
or phone 0432 271598 quoting your
Access or Visa number.
Only
Suitable (or the Amstrad PCW 8256, 8512 and 9512
£49f MONEY MANAGER PCW
NSW,
Now even r WYv*>
more powerful, more
friendly, and more useful III
Control your finances the easy way!
including VAT and p&p.
Be your own accountant!
Money Manager PCW provides individuals, businesses and professional people with a simple yet powerful way of managing their financial
activities. All transactions can be entered easily and then presented In a wide variety of reports, ranging from a detailed listing of expend-
iture for tax purposes to summaries showing, for example, how much money has been spent on petrol or phone bills In a chosen period.
Reports can be printed as text, sent to a datafile for further processing or presented in graphical form.
The program includes many helpful features, such as pop-up claculator, context-sensitive help windows and macro comands. The Money
Manager package has over 25,000 users in the UK alone. It is the ideal program for people who find that traditional accountancy programs
are too complicated, unwieldy and time-consuming for their requirements.
• Any number of data files: Personal, Business, Accounts etc.
- Budget and cash-flow forcasts - which may be updated
•12 months per file, up to 500 entries (transactions) per month
• Move a file forward a month at a time when required
• All options selected from the main menu
- Up to 20 user-defined accounts: Bank, Cash, Visa, Savings etc.
• Up to 50 user-defined classes of income and expenditure
- A reference of up to 6 characters for each entry
• Your own descriptive text of 18 characters for each entry
• All the codes are displayed on-screen whilst entering data
• Add, modify and delete existing entries at any time
• Quick Insertion of standard entries and standing orders
- Entries can be sorted into date order at the touch of a key
- Single character 'mark' for extra reporting selectivity
• Statements showing each entry In detail with running balance
- Reports may show classes merged into logical groups
■ Spreadsheet type table showing class totals In each month
• Report showing class totals for each account
• Bar chart for up to 4 selected categories
• Pie charts of up to 20 selected 'slices'
• Detailed bank statement reconciliation with running balance
- Totals for each class of transaction for any period
■ Report of monthly Income, expenditure and cash-flow etc.
- Report of account and class totals (eg profit & loss)
- Account statistics - monthly max, mln, average, balance etc.
• Automatic calculation of VAT, with multiple rates If required
- Detailed VAT reports showing taxable, VAT and gross amounts
• Summary VAT statements in the same format as a VAT return
- Simply Ignore VAT features If they are not required
• Print any report to built-in (or separate) printer
- Print any report to a file for word-processing (eg In Locoscript)
- Data search facility to find 'lost' Items
• Built-in text line editor for data entry
■ Horizontal and vertical scrolling of screen reports
• Pop-up five function multi-line calculator with memory
■ Macros to record and replay user-defined reports
• Context-sensitive help windows appear at the touch of a key
• Automatic creation of back-ups for data files
• You can choose which disc drive to use for data on a PCW8512
• Comprehensive 64 page Indexed manual
• Two sets of sample data for practice and familiarisation
• Free and Indefinite telephone support
Connect
To receive your copy of Money Manager PCW by return post phone us now with your credit
card number, or write to us at the address below enclosing your cheque for £49.95
01 743 9792 8am t0 1 °P m > 7 davs a week
Connect Software Ltd., 3 Flanchford Rd., London W1 2 9ND
LISTINGS PLUS
FIND IT
by A R Tutcher
To state the obvious; summer is with us.
At such times as these the PCW
refrains from its normal business-like
activities. It's your chance to teach it to
entertain. A R Tutcher, or ART as he would
prefer to be known, sent us a vast number of
games in response to our plea. From these, the
one which we finally settled on concerns a
guessing game and boxes. The reason we
chose it had more to do with length than
anything else as all of Art's endeavours were
quite excellent, though most were a bit too long.
FINDER is a simple game in which the
computer selects one of twelve boxes. The
player, you. then has three chances to guess
which of the boxes was the one selected, a la
Merchant of Venice. To ensure that the game is
not totally dependent on luck, it is also
programmed to inform you whether or not you
have come anywhere near to the hidden
treasure. If your choice is in the same row or
column as the computer's you are told that you
are CLOSE I
Although the game itself is rather simple,
the program does make use of some very
interesting Basic functions. For example we
have the OPTION BASE function; this relates to
arrays and array variables. Arrays can start from
either or 1 . The OPTION BASE command
defines the starting number in all arrays for the
program. As with many OPTION commands
only one OPTION BASE command can be
made in any one program.
FINDER also makes use of the very
underrated user defined functions which lie
within Mallard Basic. A number of
these are utilised throughout the
program: FNat$ is probably the
best known of the bunch,
although, as you can see from line
1 60 actually defining the function
takes some time and space. But
once done the uses for it are
legion. Not only can you place text
where you require on screen but
you can also place the graphics
which make the squares
representing the boxes in Finder.
The two variables which will
probably be of most interest are:
pick which appears for the first
time in line 220; this contains the
choice made by the computer, and
try which appears for the first time
in line 260; this is used in
connection with the INKEYS
function and represents the number of attempts
made by the player.
The obvious place to cheat in the game is
line 240 where the FOR. ..NEXT loop gives the
number of attempts possible. However the real
interest might come in expanding the grid or
even changing sides so that the player chooses
the square and the PCW does the guessing.
This type of random choice and search game
does have plenty of potential so why not see if
you can expand on it and send us your efforts.
m m m m
m m m m
E
Select a letter (fl-L) .
Capitals and RETURN not needed
Vour 1st choice: L
Vour 2nd choice: H
Vour 3rd choice: K
CLOSE
CLOSE
Play Again? <V/N)
All the graphics characters used to make Ihe boxes are printed using the CHRS (unction
10 REM "Find The Square"
20 REM Written by ART
30 a$=STRING$ (3 , CHRS < 154 ) > : escS=CHR$ (27 )
40 overS=CHR$ < 150 > +a$+CHR$ < 156 > : j am$=CHRS < 149 > +"
50 OPTION BASE 1 : underS=CHR$ U47 > +aS+CHR$ < 153)
60 DEF FNatS <x,y>=esc$+"Y"+CHR$<32+y>+CHR$<32+x>
70 cls$=esc$+"E"+escS+"H"
80 DEF FNtidy<bS>=<85-LEN<b$)>\2: liteS=escS+"p"
90 darkS=escS+"q": RESTORE 440
As usual the groundwork is laid lor Ihe program al Ihe beginning with the user-defined function to locate the cursor featured in line 60.
"+CHRS<149>
0B16
OAFO
0F8D
14B1
1215
1321
085E
137B
0D94
-100 PRINT clsS;esc$+"f"
110 : FOR n=5 TO 6: READ bS: PRINT FNatS (FNtidy <b$> , n) bS: NEXT
120 FOR n=9 TO 12:READ b$:PRINT FNatS <FNtidy <bS> , n>bS: NEXT
130 READ bS: PRINT FNatS <FNtidy <bS> , 20>bS
140 k$= M ": WHILE k$="" OR kSO" ": r=RND: kS= INKEYS: WEND
150 game=89: WHILE game=89
160 RESTORE 500: PRINT clsS: chr=65: FOR y=4 TO 14 STEP 5
170 FOR x=28 TO 52 STEP 8
The opening messages which will be relayed lo the user are stored in DATA statements .n lines 440-510.
09A3
19A5
1990
11F9
16E6
0C2E
1955
OABE
59 8000 PLUS Sewemoe.89
Q5
The Rolls Royce of PCW desk-top publis
99
Amstrad PCW magazine, July '39.
"Creative Technology have done the impossible .... This beats the lot." New computer Express 22-juiy-#9
-TYPESETTING - GRAPHICS - FONT DESIGN - PAGE LAYOUT - TEXT EDITING - PRINTING -
• Fast and Easy to use.
• Runs on PCW8256. PCW85I2 and PCW9512
(memory upgrade is recommended on the
PCW8256 fop best results).
• Fully compatible
Locoscript2, Protext,
with files from
Wordstar, AMX Stop
Press, The Desktop
Publisher, Mini-
Office Professional,
Rombo Vidi Digitiser,
Master Scan ....
• Supports hard-
dlsc drives and both the Kempston and
AMX mouse systems (though not essential),
• Gives very high quality printed output
using the internal dot-matrix printer, or an
external 9 -pin. 24 -pin or laser printer IHP
laser jet + compatible).
• Huge range of Lettering styles and
Typesetting facilities.
• Comprehensive range of Graphic Art &
Design functions.
• Includes library of 25 Fonts, over 400
symbols (Icons), and a whole disc full of
graphic 'cuts' and 'areas'.
• Clear and concise 140-page User Manual.
10 Park Street
Uttoxeter
Staffs
ST14 7AG
S 0889-567160
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY
This advert was designed, typeset and printed A T THIS SCALE using an Amstrad PCW6512, MicroDesign II, and a Centronics PP8 laser printer.
STOCKMARKET
THE COMPREHENSIVE INVESTMENT PROGRAM!
STOCKMARKET is a program designed to help you plan your investments and keep a close and careful watch on their progress. It enables you to
record full details of your purchases and sales of slocks, shares, unit trusts and other securities. Dividends can be recorded as they are received. If
required, cash balances in savings accounts can also be monitored as slocks are bought and sold. It also lets you record and plot prices of shares, unit
trusts, exchange rates, indexes etc.
STOCKMARKET does not have to be used only with your real investments. We all see shares recommended in a newspaper or magazine that we
think will do well. Six months later if the price has gone up we wish that we had trusted our judgement. If the price has fallen we quietly forget it.
With STOCKMARKET you can record details of as many shares folios as you want. These can include hypothetical folios of 'hot stocks , recovery
shares, penny shares or whatever you choose. You can practise buying and selling shares and see how well you do!
The program is easy to use and comes complete with a comprehensive manual and demonstration files including real price information going back
several years for several shares (inc FT 30 index, British Telecom, Amstrad, Marks & Spencers) so that you can plot graphs straight away.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
* Record full details of your portfolios of stocks, shares, unit trusts etc.
* Practise buying and selling and accurately record your progress.
* Up to fifty shares per folio. As many folios as you like.
* Buy and sell shares with automatic calculation of dealing costs.
* Ten sets of dealing costs which you can alter as necessary.
* Record dividend yields and price earnings ratios.
* Update prices and automatically recalculate share and folio values.
* Record (ax credits (not CPC) and dividend payments.
* List one year's information for the tax man (not CPC).
* Keep records of your cash as you buy and sell.
* List your present folio, past transactions, dividends and cash accounts.
PRICE ANALYSIS
* Record values of share prices, unit trusts, indexes, exchange rates etc.
* Store up to 260 prices per share (equivalent to weekly prices for 5 years).
* List all ihe prices for each share.
* Plot prices and moving averages on a logarithmic or linear scale.
* Choose any period for moving averages. Plot them separetely or
superimpose them on the price.
* Automatic scaling of graphs so they always fill whole screen.
* Easy to read scales for prices and dates (not just week numbers).
* Complete with real weekly prices for several shares for the last few years
(inc FT 30, British Telecom) as a demonstration.
* Use curves as a guide lo the best buying and selling opportunities.
Comprehensive fifty page manual. Complete with demonstration account and prices.
AMSTRAD PC, PPC, IBM PC and compatibles £39-95
AMSTRAD PCW £39-95
H/T17T»Tr\TArVT (AMSTRAD CPC (disc) £29-95
tyl J^j J\ Jj \j I J\ JAJ Prices are all inclusive worldwide. Send cheque or phone any day (including
)®83w©ff®
weekends) from 8am to 9pm and quote credit card number for immediate
delivery by first class post.
38 Balcaskie Road, London, SE9 1HQ. Tel: 01-850 7057
LISTINGS PLUS
180 PRINT FNatS (x, y>overS; FNatS<x, y+l>JamS;
190 PRINT FNatS<x, y+2>underS
200 PRINT FNatS<x+2,y+l>CHRS<chr>:chr=chr+l
210 NEXT: NEXT: RANDOMIZE r
220 pick=INT<RND»12)+l:F0R n=18 TO 19
230 READ bS: PRINT FNatS (FNtidy <bS> , n) bS: NEXT
240 win=0:FOR n=l TO 3: READ bS: PRINT FNatS <20, n+21 >bS
250 kS = "" i WHILE k$=""OR kS<"A" OR k$>"L" : r=RND
260 k$=UPPERS< INKEYS) : WEND: try=ASC<kS>-64
Line 220 has Ihe PCW picking a cara. or taller a box The test ol this section wans lor the key-presses ol the player
1587
0CA6
137F
0B2F
1024
16BE
1807
11FF
11CC
270 PRINT FNat$<20+LEN<bS),n+21)UPPERS<kS)
280 IF try=pick THEN n=4:win=l
290 FOR multi=l TO 9 STEP 4:near=0
300 FOR row=0 TO 3: tot=row+multi
310 near =near+ABS<try=tot)+ABS<plck= tot)
320 NEXTrGOSUB 420: NEXT: neor=0
330 FOR col=4 TO 8 STEP 4
340 near=near+ABS< <plck+col=try)»2)+ABS< <plck-col = try)«2) : NEXT
350 GOSUB 420: NEXT: bS=" YOU LOSE, THE SQUARE WAS " +CHRS <plck+64>
360 IF wln=l THEN bS=" ! ,' YOU WIN !!"
370 PRINT FNatS<FNtldy(bS),26>llteS;bS;darkS
The program assesses whether or not you have had any near misses. This section also decides whether or not you won or lost.
12B8
OECD
10AF
120D
153C
10FA
0B49
1E7B
1E54
0CF9
1586
380 bS="Play Again? <Y/N>": PRINT FNatS <FNtldy <bS> , 29>bS
390 kS="": WHILE kS="" OR <kSO"Y" AND UO'l")
400 kS=UPPERS ( INKEYS ) : WEND: game = ASC<kS> : WEND
410 PRINT clsS; escS+"e" I END
420 IF noar=2 AND win=0 THEN PRINT FNatS <50, n+21 >"CLOSE ! ! "
430 RETURN
440 DATA "You must find the computer's choice of box In three"
Would you like to play again' Silly question, o' course you would. Yel again ihe redoubtable INKEYS function shows its worth
18A9
0F88
1470
0BB4
19D0
0508
2073
450 DATA "tries or less. Failure may result In the doom for all!"
2131
460 DATA "Each box has a letter <A-L> allocated to It."
1955
470 DATA "If the box you pick Is In the same file or column as the box"
23D2
480 DATA "selected by the computer, ' Close' Is displayed otherwise the"
25C7
490 DATA "next try Is Indicated" , "PRESS SPACE-BAR TO CONTINUE"
2061
500 DATA "Select a letter <A-L> .", "Capitals and RETURN not needed."
2071
510 DATA "Your 1st choice: "."Your 2nd choice: "."Your 3rd choice: "
1EEF
An interesting use ol DATA to convey the messages. Nice and tidy
List Drive
Once again the call goes out from Listings Plus: send us more programs we cry -
and send them now otherwise we will have to put our favourites in and pay
ourselves for them (not really, honestly).
At 8000 Plus we appreciate the time and energy taken by those of you who
put together the lines which bring frustration and joy to thousands of other
readers. In (act we appreciate it so much that we are will pay up to 75p per line
(and perhaps more), depending on the quality of the program. In order to cut down
on the editing of your work and ensure that the listing you send is that which Is
printed we prefer listings to follow by the following criteria:
no more than 60 lines at the most.
No line should contain more than 80 characters.
All listings should be supplied in Ascii form on disc.
A program should be made up of recognisable sections.
Full documentation should be supplied: details of variables, and subroutines
are greatly appreciated to help us ensure that the information in the
accompanying text is as accurate as posible.
To make sure that we are not printing the same listing as other magazines,
hence nol giving value for money, you should include a letter declaring that the
listing is your own work and has not been printed elsewhere.
That's enough of the formalities. What we need now is for you to dig out all
those programs you've written for your own amusement and send them to us .
We look forward to hearing from you. The more ideas we receive the better
Listings Plus becomes. Send your offerings to: Listings Plus. 8000 Plus. 4 Queen
Street, Bath, BA11EJ.
Finally, to those people who have sent in listings and are waiting for the
return of their discs, a listings review will be carried out in the near future.
61 8000 PLUS Septembers
MICROPROCESSOR CONTROL AND
DATA LOGGING APPLICATIONS
^Lmeci
HARDWARE
SOFTWARE
MECHANICAL
'Oft the Shelf' or custom made.
A simple interfacing circuit or
a full microprocessor system.
High and/or low level language
programs to your specification
supplied on disc or EPROM.
Sensors, positional slides,
brackets, linkages etc.
supplied or designed and
manufactured.
Whelher your application is control of a model railway or
data acquisition on a factory production line, we can help
by working with you to provide any or all of the above
requirements needed to produce successful completion of
your project. Hobby or industry, one off or batch work,
we would be pleased to discuss your requirements.
Just some of our stock items for the PCW include:
PCW Parallel I/O Interface - 32 I/O Lines £55.95
PCW 8 rh. AtoD (needs above Interface) £39.95
SCA Professional Serial /Centronics Interface £44.50
SCA Prof Plus - as above + real time clock £53.00
Fed Up Swapping Interfaces? The solution for £19.95
Dual Stepper Motor Driver Board £19.95
Speech synthesiser (use with CENTRONICS port) £35.00
Similar products available for PCs and compatibles
Prices include P&P Please add VAT at 15%
OEM. trade and overseas enquiries welcome
SM ENGINEERING St Geor 6 es ' Lion Hin Stone Cross
I1ICR0 (IE DIB
Computer Supplies Ltd. 0533 856622
{»3"DI$C$»CF2
Printer Ribbons Cor
Pnce per each Rtjbon
Amttiodv512Corton
9512 carbon
851 2/8255(103500 carbon
•B5I 2 LO3500 carbon
DMP 2000/3 160/3000
LO5000
•Canon 1080/1156
VI* 1150 2180 4180 99.50
Computer Paper
12 Ploin fanfold. micro pert edges
50 Sue wwgni lOOOi PnceperDox
70 QVn pert* loo* Scots 5b»
2 6 12 Plain fanfold.
299 2 75 250 Sue VH
3.20 295 270 gsi
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2000 1495 1445 1366
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ODA HEAD COACH v3
SOFTWARE
American Football - where the war on the field is often decided by the decisions of a lonely figure pacing (he sidelines. Hes the Head Coach, and while the
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Name: —
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Ashton-Under-Lyne
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Tel: 061-330 0184
LISTINGS PLUS
YIBBLE
by Joel Rowbottom
Now then Yibble, yes. Nice name, strange little
program. One of the main points in its favour
was the fact that it is short and clearly put
together. The reason we harp on about this is
that it makes everyone else's life so much
easier when typing in listings. Imagine the
writing of a computer program being similar to
writing music. A symphony written with separate
movements in clearly defined areas will be
easier to play (and probably better on the ear)
than a stream of consciousness opus. When it
comes to improving or debugging, having a
clearly laid out program speeds up the process
and cuts down on the late nights.
The program itself is fun. All it asks from
you is that you provide a short message which it
then holds as the variable a$. It is better to keep
the message to a maximum of 40 characters
(including spaces) otherwise Yibble grinds to a
halt. The program takes this message from the
user and proceeds to bounce it around the
PCW screen with wild abandon.
What's the point? Well very little really. One
use might be to have Yibble running on the
screen of the PCW during those periods when
you are not using it (a static image eventually
gets burned into the screen).
Apple Macintosh owners spend large
amounts of money on programs which keep a
moving image on the screens of their machines.
The astute PCW owner can have one for free
and can yibble away for as long as he or she
likes.
As with Finder, the idea behind Yibble is
simple. But it is these simple ideas which can
be worked on to produce greater things.
Another comparison to be made between the
two programs is in the use of user-defined
functions to position images on the screen.
Finder's use of user-defined functions are
echoed by Yibble with the variable moveS in
combination with CHR$(32) as seen in lines
200, 210, 220, 250 and 260. Using Basic in this
How to type in a listing
The first thing to do Is get Basic up and running. To
achieve this you will first need to load CP M (side two
of your copy of the system discs). Once you have
done this type BASIC.COM at the A> prompt.
You will know when you have Basic running
because the A> prompt disappears to be replaced
with Ok, the Basic prompt.
Now all you have to do is type the listing in line
by line ignoring the four figure (hexadecimal)
numbers at the end of each line. These are check
digits which relate to the Checksum program printed
in issue 26 (to appear again soon).
Don't press [RETURN] as soon as you have
finished a line. Instead go back over the line and
check for typing errors which will almost always
occur. Once you are happy that the line is correct you
can move on to the next one. When you have finished
typing the program you must save it. To do this type
Save "FIND (or whatever name you prefer). There is no
need to bother with the .bas suffix as the PCW
assumes this.
Anazing Bouncing Yibble Progrart
If you wish to save the program in Ascii form, so
that you can examine it in LocoScript or your
favourite word processor, you should type
Save'FIND.BAS'.a.
To see what you have done you can type LIST at
any time which will print the program on the screen. If
you want a copy from the printer you must type LLIST.
Give the listing another look over to make sure
everything is alright. If it looks good the time has
come to type RUN.
If the program runs properly first time you can
count yourself very lucky indeed. The chances are
that an error message such as Syntax Error in Line
123 (or some such line) will occur. To deal with this
problem merely type EDIT 123 and the line will come
up on the screen. Check it against the magazine
version and make any corrections using the [DEL]
and cursor keys. Once the alterations have been
made you must save the program again. Finally if you
are in doubt about how to proceed you should consult
the Basic manual.
SLUGS ARE NOT HOMELESS SNAILS
Bouncing lexl programs lor those hoi summer nights with the PCW.
way enables Yibble to seemingly bounce text or
graphics around the screen.
Good use is also made of the STRINGS and
SPACES commands in lines 210, 230 and 250.
Using these instead of something like "PRINT
" ", will save a great deal of space
and some program time.
Both of this month's programs have been
short and to the point leaving much to the
imagination and inventiveness of the rest of our
readers. If you think that you can produce better
(but not bigger please) programs then send
them in (see List Drive for the address).
Meanwhile have fun and Yibble.
10 REM Joel Rowbottom
OBBF
20 REM • Yibble on the Amstrad version 1 •
138F
30 escS=CHFS<27>
0565
40 clear$=esc$+"E"
071D
50 moveS=esc£+"Y"
0747
60 homeS=escS + ,, H"
06DD
70 cls$=clearS+home£
08E9
80 PRINT clsS
0630
The Escape sequences are defined m good order. The screen is cleared and we re off to do a spot ol yibblmg
L
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90 PRINT" *«»»•»#»»»»»»••*••*»»»»*»*•«»••*■'
1 »»
100 PRINT
110 PRINT"«»
120 PRINT" ««
130 PRINT
140 PRINT
««"
»«■•
««"
•••••••*•••••••••*••••••*••*•••*"
YIBBLE on the AMSTRAD
Welcome lo the game A good straightforward set of PRINT commands get things underway
LISTINGS PLUS
09AE
0547
11FB
054D
09B0
0484
150 x=5: y=5: INPUT"Enter a number... "; a : INPUT" Enter another..
160 IF a>5 OR a<l OR b>5 OR b< 1 THEN PRINT CHRS <7> : GOTO 150
170 PRINT-
ISO INPUT" Message. . . ";a$
190 PRINT cls$
200 PRINT moves ; CHRS <32 >; CHRS (32 > ("Amazing Bouncing Yibble
210 PRINT moveS;CHRS<32+l>;CHRS<32>;STRINGS<90, "_" >;
220 FOR z=2 TO 27: PRINT moveS; CHRS <z+32> ; CHRS <32)
230 PRINT " I " ; SPACES <88> ; "I"
240 NEXT
The numbers you should add when asked must be less than 5 These are used in the screen control m lines 280-320
";b
20EE
18A2
048D
0AA9
06AE
Program"
205E
1524
151F
OCAB
0420
250
PRINT moveS ; CHRS (32+28) ;CHR$<32> ; STRINGS (90, " ~" ) ;
1722
260
PRINT moveS ; CHRS <y+32) ; CHRS <x+32> ; aS
113D
270
oldx=x+32: oldy=y+32
0AA1
280
x=x+a: y=y+b
07CF
290
IF x> (88-<LEN<a$> ) > THEN a=a*-l
0C9D
300
IF x<2 THEN a=a«-l
0905
310
IF y>27 THEN b=b»-l
09A9
320
IF y<4 THEN b=b«-l
091F
330
PRINT moves ; CHRS (oldy) ;CHRS<oldx> j SPACES <LEN<aS> >
1A53
340
GOTO 260
04C0
Tne bouncing begins. Your message is hurtled around the screen.The only way to stop is press [STOP].
This month we will deal with the
WHILE....WEND loop. This is one of the old
Basic family retainers, reliable and a strong
ally to have. What WHILE...WEND actually
does is to provide an area within a program
where a command or number of commands
are carried out repetitively. The commands will
continue WHILE a condition or group of
conditions remain true. As soon as the
condition(s) stop being true the loop will END
or rather (w)END. The W which is added to
the word END distinguishes it from the END
which aborts the program as a whole. WEND
will merely exit the loop and not the program.
Here is a short program to illustrate this:
10 letter$ = "A"
20 WHILE letters = "A"
30 PRINT "Hello world, how are you? ";
40 new$ ■ INKEYS
50 IF new$ <> "" THEN letters = new$
60 WEND
We can now break this down line by line:
Line 10: The condition required by the
loop is that the variable letters should be the
letter A so we set this up outside the loop.
Line 20: The conditions for a While loop
are checked when it is entered. If letters isn't
A at the beginning, the loop will be skipped.
Try changing line 10 to make letters
something else and see what happens.
Line 30: Any commands inside the WHILE
THE LEARNING
A small corner of Listings which will be be forever leisurely. This section of the
technical' area of 8000 Plus is given over to those of our readers who wish to
take their first dip into the programming pool.
We welcome any questions you might have, the answers will be of help to
you and many others. We also look forward to receiving illustrations of Basic
functions, commands or routines in the form of five line programs. We won't pay
for these but you might have the pleasure of receiving a printed "Better Than the
Manual" award and a mention in the magazine.
<rr>
- WEND loop are now carried out. Add a few
print statements, or a counting loop to check
this out (we might be lying).
Line 40: To save the loop from continuing
to eternity you need some way to alter the
condition being checked. In this example we
use INKEYS to get any key presses that
you've entered at the keyboard.
Line 50: If there is a key press then letters
becomes the new character. This doesn't
immediately end the loop. To show this put
something in between line 50 and 60 (another
PRINT perhaps). This will still be carried out
even if letters has been changed.
Line 60: When the WEND is reached the
loop jumps back to the beginning (line 20)
where the WHILE will once again check to see
if the condition is still true. If it is then the loop
runs through again.
As you can imagine. WHILE. ..WEND
loops can get more involved than this. For
example they can be nested (loops within
loops). Also, a WHILE can test for more than
one condition. You might like to try adding the
following lines:
15a = 1
20 WHILE letters = "A" AND a < 10
25 a = a + 1
Now the loop will only run 9 times (check it
out) even if you don't stop the loop first by
pressing a key to change letters (remember,
we are performing two checks now).
That's a very simple sketch of the
WHILE. ..WEND loop. Try some others and
see what happens. Next month we will deal
with the ubiquitous IF..THEN..ELSE.
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INBUSINESS MENU
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PRICES (including VAT)
Simple Invoicing (menu options A & E) 34 95
INSTOCK II (menu options B to E) 74.95
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Contract Accounts (menu option L) 59 95 Requires INTACT II
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RE-CHORD Music Library Database)
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TIPOFFS
Topica
tapped out by tirei.
those romance novels and do a bit of holiday reading right here.
Sometimes we can answer questions you haven't even asked yet.
And don't forget, you can actually earn a little money from the tips
you send in. Up to thirty pounds for the best tips to come our way.
Don't delay, send yours to Tipoffs, 4 Queen St. Bath, BA1 1EJ. This
month's winners are: Kai Arste, for his method of using special
LocoScript characters from Protext and Mr B Naylor for his guide to
direct printing with LocoScript 2.
Groups action
Numbers up
H Geoffrey Childs uses a
poke to change user
groups in Basic, but Mallard
has built in commands to
do this. If all data, indices, and files
are going to the same destination set
the default status at the beginning of
a program using OPTION FILES
"riG" where n is the user number and
G is the intended drive.
If you need files to go to different
places then simply specify the
destination with the file name, for
instance:
10 OPEN "o",1,"13M:testflle.g13"
20 For n=asc("0") to asc("Y")
30 test$=chr$(n)+chr$(n+1)
40 print #1 test$
50 next:close 1
Type this in and run it (from group of
course) and then exit Basic and type:
use13!dirm:!use0
at the A prompt. You should see just
the file testfile.gl 3 in group 1 3 of the
M drive. Now try this:
10 open "l",1,"13M:testfile.g13"
20 while not eof(1)
40 input #1 , aS : print aS
50 wendxlose 1
As you can see Mallard is far from
reluctant to flit from user group to
user group.
Robert Milne
Twickenham
Middlesex
n
Few things are more
annoying than having to
retype a document with
numbered paragraphs
after someone has added their
comments and altered things.
However, anyone with LocoMail can
automate the numbering of both
paragraphs and clauses.
At the beginning of the
document insert the line:
(+Mail)K=0(-Mail)(+Mail)L=0(-Mail)
this will set ail the counters you're
going to use to zero. Then, at the
beginning of each paragraph, insert:
(+Mail)+k(-Mail)
instead of a paragraph number. This
tells LocoMail to add one to the
value of K and then print it. The
insert can be stored as a phrase to
make things even faster. For sub-
paragraphs the line:
(+Mail)K(-Mail)(+Mail)+L(-Mail)
serves the same function, keeping
the value of K but adding one to the
value of L each time it is used. Don't
forget to set L back to zero for the
next main paragraph.
To use this system just finish
editing as normal but Fill before
actually printing. LocoMail will then
correctly number all your
paragraphs and sub-paragraphs.
This system can also be used
for cross references within a
document. If amendments have
altered references these normally
have to be searched out and altered
afterward, but LoocMail can do it for
you. You need a new variable, Q. At
the end of the paragraph you wish to
refer back to insert:
(+Mail)Q=K(-Mail). This causes
LocoMail to store the current value
of K in Q without printing it. Then,
instead of inserting a particular
paragraph number later on insert:
(+Mail)Q(-Mail)
which will print a reference to that
paragraph. For references to sub-
paragraphs use the insert:
(+Mail)V=K&"."&L(-Mail)
and now the insert:
(+Mail)V(-Mail)
will print out the paragraph and sub-
paragraph correctly. You need to
use a different initial letter for each
of the references you make and you
can only reference paragraphs that
have gone before. There is no way
to make a forward reference.
James Atherton
Bolton
PAR-fectly simple
HFrom your recent review
of simple printers I
purchased a Star LC-1 0.
After some man-hours,
including remembering your
reader's tip about cleaning the
socket connections with an ink-
rubber, it now works - more or
less - in LocoScript 2. (The use
of an escape code in LocoScript
to get the very large size font
escapes me).
However my main problem is
that I can find no way of waking this
OS /LUEL151.S4 Wiling text.
I I Pi 10 LSI OHO LPS
t ions f3=Lagout BBfflfll M*S1
Printer idle. Using Hi
Page 1 line IS/
fS=Page f7'Spell f8=Options EX
8=0pt
Hou to autonaticalig nunher paragraphs and
sub-paragraphs in LocoScript using LocoMail
and a little ingenuity. f
f
<«H»il)lffl(-H»il)<»ll»il)JE(-n , »il)f
f
(<Mail)fl3(-Hail)Ihis is the first paragraph and what a fine
specmen it turned out to be.(tMail)fflJ(-Hail)c
( +Ma i 1 ) EL? (-Mail)This is the second paragraph uith a special
little extra at the end.* 1
(>Mail),l(-Hain.(»Hainaj(-Hail)-Ihis is a sub-paragraph, reills.e
~3(-Hail>-This is another sub-paragraph. P
ilieSl-naiDIhis is the second nain paragraph and
m«*n that ue've reset l to zero.* 1
(tHail)Qi)(-Mail)Hell, here we are at paragraph three and -
giving in to an oueruhelning urge - let's
refer back to paragraph (•Hail)>J(-Hail).f
Mastering a taw LocoMail commands can save hours of retyping with numbered pa/aQrapns
printer from from a deep sleep to
print SuperCalc 2.
N O Clark
Par
Cornwall
gQOOPLUS The editor's LC-tO prints out
SuperCalc tiles with no problem. You don't
say whether you have an 8000 or 9000 type
machine. It it's an 8000 have you used
DEVICE.COM to redirect printer output to
the interface? DEVICE LST>CEN.
II you 're using a 951 2 it should be
DEVICE LST:=:PAR lor the built in Centronics
interface. Use the DEVICE program line
from your PROFILE.SUB so that you can
forget all about it.
Documented
SI have just bought a
PCW9512 and am using
LocoScript 2 as the word
processing package. I am
having a few problems
getting the printer (PCW9512
Daisy-Wheel) to print on A5 paper.
The printer menu has a tick by the
A5 and so does the document
menu but the only way I can get it
to print at the correct size is by
altering the margins on the
document. Could you tell me if
this is the correct way of printing
on A5 or should the program set
the margins automatically? I
would be very grateful if you could
help me.
I would also be grateful if you
could advise me of a statistics
package that would work on my
machine.
Sonja Garret
Malpas
Cheshire
8000 PLUS The best way is to make up a
standard document format containing the
layouts you plan to use in your letters.
Create a new document and use the {ft]
menu. Select Document setup and you'll
be dropped into a screen from which you
can specify the type of paper the document
will be printed on as well as the layouts for
your A5 documents.
You can now edit a layout to give
you the margins you need (among a whole
host ol other things). II this layout were
Layout (for example) then pressing
[+]LT0 will insert the layout code at the
beginning olyour document. Alternatively,
set a document up the way you want it
(change the margins and so on). You
can save either of the resulting documents
as a TEMPLATE.STD lor future use.
Of course, LocoScript won't slop you
printing any document on any size of paper
- if you really want to.
As for statistics, contact
SC Coleman forAmstat:
33 Leicester Road.
Ashby-de-la-zouch. »>~^_^
Leicestershire. LE65D A i^"
8000 PLUS Seplembe.89 67
HSV COMPUTER SERVICES LIMITED
23 Hampstead House, Town Centre, Basingstoke RG21 1LG
(8000)
ALL OUR PRICES INCLUDE CARRIAGE & VAT
Personal
Organiser
Stationery
85gsm
E7.95
for 250 sheets
Cleaning Products
3" Disk Cleaning Kit £4.95
PCW8 Printhead Cleaning
Ribbon £6.95
PCW9 Printhead Cleaning
Ribbon £6.95
Stationery . . . Stationery .
. . Stationery . . .
500
1,000
2,000
9.5" x 11" 60gsm Micro-Perf all edges
-
£9.50
£15.95
True A4 70gsm Micro-Perf all edges
£8.50
£12.95
£22.95
True A4 90gsm Micro-Perf all edges
£9.75
£14.95
£27.95
True A4 100gsm Micro-Perf all edges
£16.95
£31.95
-
(coloured - Cream, Blue, Grey or White)
1,000
2,000
4,000
Labels 3.5" x 1.5" (1 across)
£5.25
£9.50
£17.95
Labels 3.5" x 1 .5" (2 across)
£5.75
£10.50
£19.95
Labels 4.0" x 1.5" (1 across)
£5.75
£10.50
£19.95
Labels 4.0" x 1 .5" (2 across)
£6.75
£11.95
£22.95
Labels 2.75" x 1 .5" (3 across)
£4.75
£8.50
£15.95
Artisoft 3" disks (uncased): One £2.85; Five £13.50; Ten £25.95
Maxell 3" disks (cased): One £2.85; Five £13.50; Ten £25.95
Printer Ribbons .
, ,
PCW 851 2/8256 Fabric
£3.25
PCW 851 2/8256 Carbon
£3.95
PCW 851 2/8256 Colours'
£4.95
PCW 951 2 Fabric
£2.95
PCW 951 2 Carbon
£2.95
PCW 951 2 Colours"
£4.95
PCW 951 2 Print Wheels
£5.95
Dust Covers . . .
PCW 8256/851 2 3pceSet £9.50
PCW 951 2 3pceSet £9.50
Seal and Type Keyboard Cover
PCW8/PCW9 £10.95
Credit Card Hotline
(0256) 463507
Faxline
(0256) 841018
8ARCLAYCARD
VISA
'Red, Blue, Green, Brown, Purple, Orange. "Red, Blue, Green. Brown
Orders under £B in value carry a small order charge of £2
BUSINESS SOFTWARE MADE EASY
SIMPLE ACCOUNTS II
* COMPLETE BOOK-KEEPING SYSTEM
* RAPID ENTRY OF TRANSACTIONS
* FULL AUDIT TRAIL
+ MONTHLY AND YTD TOTALS
* FULL BANK/CASH RECONCILIATION
* PART PAYMENTS CATERED FOR
* FULL VAT ACCOUNTED FOR
* IN DEPTH ANALYSIS FACILITIES
* REQUIRES NO ACCOUNTS KNOWLEDGE
* CREDITORS & DEBTORS REPORT
* 1 00 PAGE RINGBOUND MANUAL
* INDEFINITE FREE USER SUPPORT
"EXCELLENT SIMPLE
PACKAGE"
- 8000 PLUS JULY '89
PCW-£99.95 inc. Vat
* COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS
TO BUSINESS PROBLEMS.
* INDEFINITE USER SUPPORT
■ FREE OF CHARGE.
* PROGRAMS THAT ARE TRULY
EASY TO USE.
CONTACT US FOR A FREE
EASY TO READ SPECIFICATION
MANUAL ON ANY OF THESE PRODUCTS
I
PROGRAMS ALSO AVAILABLE
IN MS/DOS FORMAT
JOB ESTIMATING
AND
PRODUCT COSTING
* INVALUABLE FOR SMALL CONTRACTORS.
* USE TO ACCURATELY WORKOUT
HOW MUCH A JOB WILL COST TO DO
HOW MUCH YOU WILL MAKE OR THE
LOWEST PRICE YOU COULD DO IT FOR.
PCW-E79.95 inc. Vat (each)
CARD INDEX 2.2
* GENUINELY EASY TO USE
* POWERFUL SEARCH & SORT
* PRINTS MAILING LABELS
PCW-E34.95 inc . Vat
Cornix Software ( sales ) Ltd. 40b Queen Street, Hitchin, Herts. SG4 9TS
Tel; (0462) 422232
Dealer enquiries welcome
TIPOFFS
Photocall
H
Many people have
wondered if it is possible
to print labels narrow
enough to stick onto 35mm
photographic transparency mounts.
There is a way of doing this using
labels 15/1 6th inches wide.
The best approach is to create
a paper type specifically for this
purpose from the [f6] menu. The
new paper type will have a height
of six, a left offset of zero, top gap
zero and a bottom gap of two.
You now need to create a
document as normal. It will have
a line pitch of six but use a line
spacing of a half, a character
pitch of 1 5 and it will all be in
superscript.
The final requirement is to
edit the Document set up from
[f1]. Use [f5] - for page - and
select Page layout. You need a
top gap of zero, a header zone of
zero, page body of four, a footer
zone of zero, a bottom gap of two
and a page length of six.
This all gives enough space
«V'
C z Create new docunent E=tdi t docunent P=Pnnt doc
fl=Actions f2=Disc f3=Eile f4=Group fS=&ocunent
oriue A: , Drive B;
522k ustd 184k fret 64 files Ok used Ok (
SYSIEH 196k jl&fcHK;
""Printer idle. Using none.
SYSTEM 196k .j&MMV;
jroup 1 286k UKii Sk
LEIIEBS 22k INVOICE 4k
KANUSCRP 6k MMLSHQI 4k
Paper Types
SALES2 .DAT 12k
SE SIGN .24 2k
SPELL .1X1 4k
TA S .EC 4k
US BSPEL.ZZZ 2k
HH EL .TXT 4k
ABETTERS 8 files
linbo riles
COVER . 4k
DOCUMENT. 000 2k
DOCUMENT. 001 4k
EX .1 4k
JACKDAHS. 2k
PITCHES .2 2k
PITCHES .ETC 2k
Neu Character Style
Character Styles
Eor Character Set
England
Eor Printer
PCM9512
4k free 2 fill
k NEMOS C
k EAPELS C
k INVOICE C
k HAILSHOT C
Standard Printer
Printer Defaults
Nrite SETTINGS, STD
EXIT
1 Paper types are stored as pan ol your SETTINGS.STD so the place lo start is the [I
for three lines of address including
a postcode, put in a carriage return
and then up to four lines of
information about the slide. Cut the
printed label at the carriage return
line and the two halves will fit the
slide mount.
For those using LocoMail this
can be extended and a reference
number included on each label.
Use the following method:
(+Mail)! Reference_no
=?#;Please enter first reference
number (-Mail)
to get the first reference number
and then on the last line of the
label add the number with the line:
Ref. no: (+Mail) Reference_no
(-Mail)
The name and address can be
copied using [COPY] and [PASTE],
To use the LocoMail version select
Fill rather than edit, enter the first
reference number and all the rest
of the entries will be numbered in
sequence. You will eventually get a
menu offering to let you Edit
document, select this and fill in the
details you require. The final result
is time saved and far neater work.
D G Farquhar
Glasgow
ii=Hcwons it^Layoui li-aiyie ii=;>izi
nd of header 1 : used for all page
rid of footer 1 : used for all page
liri of header 2 : used for no pages
|M_tnd of footer 2 l used for no pages
Page layout
Top gap
imnrnm^^^mi
Page body
4
Footer zone
■/ Fixed footer
Floating foo
zone
er zone
Bolton gap
2
Paper length
6
4 Document set up is also where LocoScript 2 looks to timj out how it should lay out the page
C=Create neu document E=Edit docunent P-Print docunen
fl= Actions f2=Bisc f3=File f4=Croup fS=Dccunent W
Drive A: Drive B;
522k used 184k free 64 files Ok used Ok f
SYSTEM 136k ^OflM
wow 1 28Sk lABTlS 2k
Direct printing f-fill ivnerge
? f 7=t*isc change f8=Qption«
Paper: 15/16 label
SVSTEN 196k XMH!
jroup 1 286k LABELS B
Lftins 22k INVOICE 4k
KANUSCRP 6k NAIISHOI 4k
SALE52 .DAT 12k
SESSION .24 2k
SPELL .1X1 4k
TABS .EG 4k
USERSPEL.Z22 2k
WHEEL .TXT 4k
ABETTERS 8 files
linbo files
COVER , 4k
DOCUMENT. 000 2k
MCUHENI.001 4k
EX .1 4
JACKDAHS. 2
PITCHES .2
PITCHES .ETC 2k
TEMPLATE. 2k
Single sheet
v Continuous stationery
Top gap '
Bolton gap 2
Ignore paper sensor
Set new details
Benove Paper Type
free 2 files
HEHOS 0k
LABELS 0k
INVOICE Ok
NAILSH0I 0k
2 The new paper type must have a unique name, though you can base it on an existing paper type.
3 From the document set up screen you can set a variety ol defaults including the paper type
The point of it all
■"£<■ I have recently entered the
ijll Mandlebrot plot program
L?*^ and I set about
^^^ understanding how it
worked. I understand all of the
maths involved, but the following
lines seems to cause the program to
plot points which are not based on
the mathematical set as explained in
the text.
270 IF i%>t% THEN k=0 ELSE
k=i%MOD(3)+1
280 IF k=1 or k=3 THEN CALL
PLOT (x%, y%, f%)
290 IF k=3 THEN x1%=x%+1 :
CALL PLOT (x1%, y%, f%)
Secondly can you tell me what the
SiC command on the Locoscript2 [+]
menu does? If selected it displays
(SiC) but it does not cause anything
to be printed.
Neil Sleightholm
Truro
Cornwall
8000 PLUS You will have noticed that the
pictures are two tone, yet the PCW can only
show pixels on or off. The program checks
tor two number ranges alter a certain
number of iterations. II the number is in the
first range then a single pixel is plotted and
one is skipped. The second range produces
two pixels plotted one after another
(x1*X+1). in line 280 IF K=1 ORK=3plot
a point, but then in line 290 only plot a
point it K=3.
The [SiCj command tells LocoSpell that
you've spelt the word before it the way you
wanted to so no moaning about it later.
Utility not supplied
u
Are you tired of watching
CP/M utilities scrolling
messages down the
screen when your PCW
starts up with PROFILE.SUB? Even
more irritating is when it continues
to scroll them even though they're
your messages which you'd prefer
to leave on the screen for someone
to read.
What is needed are two extra
utilities, a pause (so that messages
can be read) and a CLS (to clear
the screen). These would be easy
enough to write using Basic but
running them would involve having
Basic on your start up disc, and
would certainly slow things down. A
better solution is to write them in a
compiled language to produce
stand alone programs. I used
Small C (from the public domain),
though you could use a commercial
Pascal or C. Small C is good for
this kind of thing as it can produce
very small files (only 256 bytes
for these two).
The first program, PAUSE, is to
stop things from happening until the
user presses a key, any key. This
allows you to put a message up on
the screen asking them to insert
another disc, or simply giving
instructions as to what to do when
a program has loaded.
/'pause*/
main()
{
int reply;
puts("press any key to
continue");
reply=getch();
}
The second program clears the
screen by printing the clear screen
escape sequence to it.
/"clear screen*/
main()
{
putch(27);
putchfH');
putch(27);
putch('E');
}
To further aid you in keeping
your environment tidy try
redirecting screen output to the
NULL device (this effectively just
throws the screen output away).
Use the line:
DEVICE conout:=null
to get rid of screen clutter and
DEVICE conout:=crt
to get it back again.
B Priestly V— ~-^
Slough -i-— ■""*
8000 PLUS Sep*™. Bs- 69
TIPOFFS
* First check [he distance between the
lines on the form: eg - 3 spaces, (or 4
lines!), to the inch means you will need
to set Line Space to 2 Inn set this
later, not now
• Put the paper or form in the printer
and align the paper lines with the guide.
(experiment) Press EXIT NOW,
you arc ready to direct print
Doing it directly
n
Direct printing in
LocoScript 2 is heavily
under-documented.
In order to avoid
constantly referring to the
manual I produced my own
guide, which, although it
doesn't follow the manual
exactly, does work.
B Naylor
Doncaster
OFFSET MENU
Set offset by typing figures in the top line.
or by selecting another line and moving
the Ivpe head using the ENTER kev - then
ENTER EXIT ENTER '
Is Ihe printer head in Ihe
correct column lo prim
ils this the first entr>'.'
"T
YES
F2 Change layoul "ENTER" adjust as
normal for Tabs. Margins. Line spaces
EXIT
Returns you to Ihe disc manager
Old buffer
m
How can I clear the printer
buffer during printing? On
a normal printer, one can
turn it on and off to
achieve that, but I have been
unable to solve the problem.
Is it possible to adjust the
printer to take and print
envelopes? I have no trouble with
a DMP or MT80 printer, but this
one does not appear to have any
adjustment levers, and again the
so called handbook is silent.
Is there any way round the
numeric pad being overlaid by the
direction arrows? This makes life
very difficult in a complex
spreadsheet operation, which
doesn't happen on the PCW's
companion CPC 6128 computer.
These seem rather silly
questions, but the printer buffer
really gets me wound up, as it fouls
up Supercalc and Protext most
effectively.
D G Rule
Wokingham
70 8000 PLUS SeplemOetM
8000 PLUS In Pretext use the direct
command ABANDON to stop printing and
empty the butler. Otherwise lite is a bit
more difficult. RESET from the printer
control state should do it but doesn't quite
manage the trick (we've tried).
Envelope printing is a pain. There is no
good solution. Use continuous labels.
One solution to the problem of the
numehc keypad (we're assuming you wish
to use it lor data entry) would be to
redefine some other keys as cursor keys -
perhaps 1,2,3 and 4 at the top. Use the
SETKEYS utility as described in this issue.
To make this happen you'd need the tile
below:
64 N ""'31'" cursor up
65 N "" '30'" cursor down
57 N ""'6'" cursor right
56 N """?'" cursor left
Save this as a simple Ascii Hie called
CURSES.KEY and run it whenever you
startSuperCalc2.
Revealing secrets
H
The article on SET in
August (issue 35)
erroneously stated that
CP/M doesn't appear able
to work with passwords - rubbish. A
full file specification has the form:
A:FILENAME.TYP:PASSWORD
Note that the delimiter is a semi-
colon, which is why it can't be used
in file names. Passwords can be
used with most CP/M utilities, though
not the Amstrad PCW specific
utilities, in the following form.
PIP M:FILENAME.TYP;SECRET
There are two problems: most
utilities don't ask you for a password
if you don't provide one and no
commercial CP/M software checks
for passwords at all (including Basic)
and most get upset if you try to give
them one.
Philip Barrett
Cambridge
Half time
*i
Are you fed up with
constant disc changing
when copying discs on
your 9512? You can
reduce the number of disc swaps
from six to three simply by erasing
the LOCOSPEL.DCT FILE from
drive M before copying. In fact,
since LocoScript uses drive M to
store information during the copying
process the more you can clear
from M the faster the copying
process will go. Under CP/M, with a
completely clear M drive, a 720K
disc needs only two swaps to copy.
Tim Coulihan
East Sussex
Transfer fee
@ln a recent issue you
mentioned that the easiest
way to transfer material
from a LocoFile database
to a LocoScript document is by
means of LocoMail. Does this mean
there is another, less easy, way for
those of us without LocoMail.
Tom Coultate
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire
8000 PLUS The hard way is to cut and
paste them in one at a time.
Olden modem
■F"*B I've recently been given a
[jJk| Prism modem 2000.
LVFJ As it was manufactured
^^^ by Thorn EMI Datatech at
Feltham, Middlesex I tried them, but
telephone numbers supplied all
ended as "number unobtainable".
With the unit came a separate
unit, a 5 pin Din plug terminating in
a double-sided 22 way PCB. I am
hoping, as I've failed elsewhere,
that your vast store of knowledge
will come to my rescue and I'll be
able to connect this to my
PCW8512 and get on line.
RS232
DIN
2 —
- 1
3 —
- 2
8 —
- 3
1 —
- 4
20 —
- 5
1 Received data RXD
2Transmitted dataTXD
3 Carrier detect CD
4 Signal ground SG
5 Request to send RTS
Rear view of DIN connector
T A Horlon
Doncaster
Yorks
8000 PLUS
As we're sure you know you have a nice
little V23 (1200/75) modem once called a
VX540 and designed tor use on Prestel
systems. Throw the lead away and get a
suitable live pin DIN connector, some
multicore cable and the requisite RS232 D
type connector. The connections at the
modem end are as above:
II this doesn 't work you might try connecting
pins six and eight together as well at the
PCW end. That completely exhausts our vast
store ot knowledge.
Downloaded
H
There is a very simple way
of using the special
LocoScript characters -
like mathematical symbols
and the Greek character set - from
Protext provided you have a printer
that can accept a downloaded
character set. These include all of
the 24 pin printers and some 9 pin
printers. This tip is specific to the
Citizen HOP24 printer but the
principle applies to any other printer
with a download facility.
First you need a document in
LocoScript, call it DOWNLOAD,
containing the characters you wish
to use in Protext. Once that
Laser Typesetting
Our new Improved service brings low cost laser
printing and typesetting to the PCW and PC user
from £1 per sheet. Ideal for books, reports, etc.
Wide range of type styles and sizes.
Phone or write for full details.
LASER IMAGES
39 Belle Vue Terrace • Sandbach • Cheshire • CW1 1 ONR
TELEPHONE (0270) 760531
also Disc Conversions from £5
DTP - DESIGNED TO PERFECTION
LATE EXTRA FOR PCW STOP PRESS
Fonts, templates and expertise to transform the quality ot Stop
Press text output. An essential utility for producers of A4 and A5
newsletters. £19.50 in CF2 or CF2DD format.
DESIGNER STUBBLE FOR "THE DESKTOP PUBLISHER"
Part 1 - definitive foundation course in newsletter design and
production. £17.50 (CF2) or £15.50 (CF2DD).
Part 2 - extra fonts and advanced techniques (including
MasterScan graphics). £17.50 (CF2 format only).
Combined edition - £32.50 (CF2) or £27.50 (CF2DD).
Exemplary support software from the DTP experts:
EXEMPLAR DESIGN, P.O. BOX 683, BATH BA1 1XU
Proprietor: J. B. Evans. 20 Grosvenor Place, Balh BA1 6AX
SIMPLY - THE BEST!
MARGIN MAKER"
'MM3'Cut Sheet LOCATOR & ALIGNER for PCW 8000 Printers
Vital when using printed stationary. Save time and paper. 'Waft' up to
100gms paper between arms and load, accurately! Lock arms anywhere.
Four scales marked. Simply fitted and adjusted. A real boon.
"..Excellent product. MM3 is try far the best
product of its hind on the market.'
"lour Amslrad PCW November 87
"Very well designed, extremely well made. You
would expect it to work well, and it does."
■ \mst . ..,1 PCW Magazine' October 87
"MU3 must be THE best add-on for theAmstrad
pewr
Mr. I.T.CO. Tonbridie
incl.VAT&p+p
Send addressed adhesive LABEL, with REMITTANCE made out to:-
"MARGIN MAKER"
ONLY
£1 2.50
Dept. 8 Box 121 Gresham Road, Staines, Mx. TW182AJ. England.
(Overseas. Arid £2.00 Sterling)
SEC. DCS. APPIN. No. 1013147 coven -MARGINMAKER- 'MW'
@©ZK
V\(ezu JLozu 'Prices
ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT & 1 st CLASS DELIVERY
GAMES
NEW LOW PRICES ^
Mindfighler £18.50
Catch 23 £16.95
Armageddon Man £16.95
Ingrid'sBack £11.95
Clock Chess '89 £15 50
Bndge Player 2000 with Turbo .£1 2.50
Heathrow/Southern Belle „ £13.95
Cyrus Chess II £12.95
Fairlightll £15.50
Batman £12.95
Head Over Heels £12.50
Matchday II £11.95
Scrabble £15.50
Tomahawk £15.50
Knight Ore £18.50
Corruption £18.50
Steve Davis Snooker £11.95
G.Gooch's Test Cricket £15.50
Strike Force Harrier £16.50
Jinxter _ £18 50
3D Clock Chess £12.50
Trivial Pursuits £16.50
Guild ol Thieves £18.50
Pawn £16.50
Starglider £18.50
Telris £15.50
Time&Magik £11.95
Ski Climb Cavern Colin £11.95
Hop. Munch, Shoot Colin £11.95
Classic Games 4 Comp £15.50
Ace Flight Simulator £15.50
Brian Cloughs Football Fortunes £15.50
Frank Bruno's Boxing £15.50
Lancelot £15.50
Fish £18.50
Leather Goddesses ot Phobos.£18.50
Classic Invaders £11.95
The Living Oaylights £11.95
APPLICATIONS
Mini-Office Professional Plus.
£33.95
Masler Scan * Paint
Crash Course Tutor ( lansysi)
Two Finger Conversion
Touch 'n Go „
Easy Labeller
Camsott Integrated Accounts ..
Compact Accounts Plus. .
Map Integrated Accounts .
Desk Top Publisher
Sage Popular Accounts ...
£69.95
£22.95
£22.95
£26 95
£32 95
£105.95
£173.95
£103.95
£24.95
.£69.95
Sage Popular Accounts Plus. ..£99.95
Sage Payroll £51.95
Sage Invoicing £51.95
Sage Accounts Plus £99.95
Sage Popular Retrieve £49.95
Chit-Chat £88.95
Cracker II (Turbo) £44.95
Fleet Street Editor Plus £44.95
Supercalc II lAmsotn £44.95
AMX Mouse ♦ Slop Press v2 7 ..£79.95
CF2-3" DISCS
£20.95
I All branded and 100% Certified
10 off 30ot1
Maxell CF2 ■ Double Sided lor Single Drive £20.95 £62.50
Maxell CF2 • D/S (individually cased) £22.95 .£68.50
Amsott CF2 - Double Sided lor Single Drive £23.95 £69.80
Maxell CF2-D DS/DD lor 8512 & 9512 £27.95 £83.50
(3 1/2", 5 1/4" DS/DD. DS/HD available P.O.A.
Amstrad 3" Storage Box (10 Cap.) ! £5.95
Lockable Storage Box (20 Cap),..._ £755
Lockable Storage Box (40 Cap £9.95
3" Disc Drive Head Cleaning Kit £7.95
RIBBONS
£2.85
Highest Quality Guaranteed
U 3* 10*
PCW 9512 Carbon Multistrike £2.85 £2.75 £2.65
PCW 9512 Black Fabric £3.75 £3.50 £2.95
PCW 9512 Colour Fabric
(Red. Blue. Green. Brown, Purple) £4.95 £4.50 £3.95
PCW 8256/8512 Carbon Multistrike. ...£3.75 £3.50 £3.25
PCW 8256/3512 Black Fabric £3.45 £3.00 £2.85
PCW 82567851 2 Colour Fabric
(Red. Blue. Green. Brown. Purple) £4.95 £4.50 £3.95
(Printer Ribbons lor Star. Epson, NEC, Panasonic, Amstrad,
DMP/LQ, Juki M/S. Qume, Diablo, Brother, Canon/Taxan,
Man/Tally, Shinwa. Commodore) , P.O.A
EDUCATIONAL
(Age 12-16)
Physics
Chemistry
Biology ,
Magic Maths (4-8)
Maths Mania (8- 12}
Better Maths (12-16)...
Better Spe,ling(12-t6)
£11.95
LOCOFILE
8256 8512
Locolile9512.
Locomail2
£24.95
Locoscnpi II . Locospell
Locotont 1 .
£29 95
£17.95
Locolont2 £12 95
24 pin Printer Driver 8*9 £21 .50
£9.95
DUST CO VERS |
8256/8512/9512
Antistatic. Water-prool, Creamy. Cover Set (or
Monitor Keyboard & Printer.
PCl5512/1640(2pcs) ,-£11.95 PC2086(2pcs)..£l2.95
PC2286(2pcs) £14 95 PC2386(2pcs) .£15.95
MISCELLANEOUS
PCW Joystick Interface
£14.50
QuKAShot II Joystick ..£5.95
Ouk*shotllTurbo..£11.95
Speed King
Microswitch £10.95
Parallel Serial Interface
PCW8256/8512.. £57.95
Printer Cable
Q25-CEN36...
Printer Cable
CEN36-CEN38
Margin U»H*UM3...
...£7.95
£9.95
..£13.50
9512 Daisy Wheels £6.50
2 Way CEN36
Switchbox £19.95
2 Way Serial 025
Switchbox £1995
4 Way CEN36
Switchbox £29.95
4 Way Serial 025
Switchbox £29.95
Mouse Pad (Soft). £5.45
Mouse Pad (Hard) £5.95
Mouse Pad
(Thick Rubber) £5.85
Mouse Pad (Strong
Thick Rubber) . . . £6.95
A to Z Computer Services
* 01-744-1834
(10-6Mon-Sat)
24 Hr Faxline:
01 891 6260
* Quantity order discount please ring.
* Education, Govt. Authority Official Orders welcome. Min. £50.00
* Prices are for Mall Order only and subject to change without notice.
* COMPUTER PRODUCTS FOR PC's. AMSTRAD CPC. ATARI. AMIGA, BBC ALSO AVAILABLE
49 Heath Road, Twickenham, Middx. TW1 4AZ
ASTROLOGY for beginners
Teach yourself astrology using your Amstrad
Buy a Starter Pack comprising a simple program to calculate a
horoscope, an introductory booklet and 2 self-teaching programs
(how to interpret the horoscope).
ONLY £12.50 No previous knowledge required
For ALL Amstrada (CPC, PCW, PC, PPC)
Payment by Access /Visa, Cheque, P.O. Please state make of
computer or send s.a.e. (about 9"x7") for free catalogue giving
details of our wide range of programs for PROFESSIONAL
ASTROLOGERS including complete natal interpretations and
forecasting.
Also I CHING, GRAPHOLOGY, BIORHYTHMS, etc.
ASTROCALC
iDept 8000) 67 Peascroft Road, Hemel Hempstead,
Herts HP3 8ER England. Tel: 0442 51809
Ribbon Re-inking Services
AUTUMN INTRODUCTORY OFFERS*
Anistrad PCW & LQ fabric re-Inks - 1+: £1 each: 3+: 90p each.
Amslrari PCW 9512 carbon-file re-inks - £2 each.
Anistrad PCW 8256 & 8512 carbon-lilm ribbon reversal
(gives an extra life) - 1+: £1.25 each: 3+: £1 each.
EXTRA! 5% OFF ANY ORDER TOTALLING £5+.
Post used cassettes with order and payment to:
ALADDIN K. Eyemouth. Berwickshire. TD14 5AP
Manv other ribbon services available.
Tel: 08907 50965
EXTRA SPECIAL: NEW 9512 carbon cassettes - only £2.50
each (max 5 per customer)
*ALL THESE OFFERS EXPIRE 1ST NOVEMBER 1989
and are available to anv first-time customer or anyone who has
not ordered since AUGUST 1988
Free "CONNECTIONS '. Super GIFT STAMPS.
Unbeatable repulalion (est. 19861
Bradway Software (8P)
LETTA-HEAD PLUS
The mosl versatile PCW utility yet for designing and printing your own business & personal
stationery: letterheads, receipts, orders, labels, posters etc. Create the design on screen,
select the required tormat & print all the copies you need
• Library of 15 different fonts and the integral font editor. 'All characters proportionally
spaced in a choice of 81 sizes. 'Screen windows may be inversed, scrolled & erased.
• Enclose any area in a box o' any thickness. "Graphics lines, arcs, circles A shade lor logo
design 'Icon editor for easy inclusion of symbols "Print headings in a choice of 18
sizes. "Design labels to 4" x 2" in size "Price £18.00
WORDFINDER
A! last help tor all you crossword and word game enthusiasts! WordFinder gives you on line
access to a large vocabulary to aid those |aded memory cells.
• 19,000 unique words "5.000 proper names "Word lengths ot 3-12 characters
• Search by word, skeleton e.g. g-y. "Simple retrieval ol plurals, adjectives & adverbs. 'Superb
anagrammer; input more letters than target or less letters than target (tor Scrabble cheats)
'Addhb utility to add extra words to the dictionary. "Price E13 00.
Prices Include P&P within Europe. Please add £2 per program world wide airmail postage.
'Hillsett ". Upper Padley, Grindletord. Sheffield, S30 1JA
Phone (0433) 30799
TYPESETTING
LASERSETTING
from just
+ VAT per Locoacript page
■ Discounts for quantity I Casri
with order B Excludes corrections
■ Applies to Locoscript documents
Call if other software used ■ All
dIpha-numBric and European
accented characters available Some
uncommon dot-mainx characters not
supported - please ask for our
Character Font List
■ Price breakthrough...
...from Thameslink Laser
Bureau. PCW files output
to the quality of this
text, Laserset in highly
businesslike Courier.
OR highest quality DTP!
I Desktop Publishing Laser
M Desktop Publishing Typeset
THAMESLINK
38 Thames St. Windsor, Berks. SL4 1PR
Tel: (0753) 863356 Fax: (0753) 851989
Z88 Import/Export, from C Port, allows
easy exchange of files between any Amstrad
PCW and the Z88.
PipeDream text files can be converted for
reading into LocoScript.
A Printer server allows the Z88 to print onto
the PCW's printer.
The program is easy to use. and is complete
with instructions and a connecting cable.
Available now for £29.95, this utility is
indispensable to those who use the PCW
and the Z88.
Requires a PCW8256, 8512 or 9512 wilh
the CPS8256 serial interface add-on.
software diffusion limited
london house. 266 fulham road, london swlO 9el
Tel: (0 1 ) 376 8038 Fax: (0 1 ) 376 5970
WORLDWIDE
SOFTWARE-
1 Bridge Street
Galashiels
TD1 1SW
Tel
0896
57004
(24 hrs)
Tel
106 A Chilwell Road
0602
Beeston
252113
Nottingham
(24 hrs)
NG9 1ES
All Prices Include VAT.
1st Class Postage and Packing is FREE in the U.K.
AMX Mouse-Slop Press £69.95
Slop Press Software Only £31.95
AMX Mouse'Desklop Publisher £50,95
Maslerpack (Maslerpamt . Maslerscan|. .£58.95
Desktop Publisher £19.50
Mini Office Professional Plus £33.00
Mini Office Upgrade Spellcheck/Thesaurus.. £15.00
Hi Soft C £38.95
Hi Soft Knife Plus £14.95
Hi Soft Pascal £38.95
Locoscripl II • Locospell £32.95
Locofile £28.95
Masterfile 8000 £32.95
Money Manager Plus £28.95
Money Manager PCW £38.95
Plan It £16.95
Pocket Prolexl £26.95
Prospell £21.95
Sage Payslips (1000) £38.95
Sage Invoices! 1 000| £44.95
Sage Statements (1000) £38.95
Sage Popular Accounts Plus lAcds - Inv) £102.95
Sage Popular Accounts £71.95
Sage Popular Invoicing £51.95
Sage Popular Payroll £51.95
Sage Popular Retrieve £49.95
Programmable Joystick Interface £24.95
Cheetah Joystick £6.95
10 x CF2 Amsoft/Maxell Disk £23 95
Bridge Player 2000 £11,95
Classic Collection £11,20
Classic Games 4 £14.95
Classic Invaders £10,95
Clock Chess 88 £11.95
Clock Chess 89 £13,95
Colossus Bridge 4 £13.50
Colossus Chess 4 £13.50
Fish £18.50
Scrabble £14.95
Malchday II £11.20
Sieve Davis Snooker £13 50
Time and Magik (3 Adventures) £11.20
Tomahawk (Helicopter Simulator) £14.95
Trivial Pursuil £14.95
Educational
Animal Vegelable Mineral £12.99
Better Malhs (12-16 Yrs) £12.99
Belter Spelling (9-14 Yrs) £12.99
Biology (12-16 Yrs) £12.99
Chemrslry (12-16 Yrs) £12.99
Magic Maths (4-8 Yrs) £12.99
Malhs Mama (8-12 Yrs) £12.99
Physics 1 (12-16 Yrs) £12-99
World Wise £12.99
VISA
Please make Cheques and Postal Orders
Payable to
Worldwide Software
Credit Card Orders accepted by Phone or Mail.
document has been printed, using
the Locoscript's 24 pin printer driver,
these characters will remain in the
printer's RAM memory even il you
reset - or turn off - the PCW. They
remain until the printer is turned off
or reset. You can now load Protext
under CP/M and make use of them.
You now need to redefine a
printer control code in Protext to
switch to the downloaded character
set. Using the inverse x this can be
a stored command like this:
>CC 27 37 49;27 37 48
at the beginning of a document or it
can be done by altering the printer
driver using the SETPRINT Protext
utility. Now, any character enclosed
in inverse x's will be printed using
the redefined downloaded
characters - but what are they?
Characters to be printed must
be in the same pitch and quality as
the original LocoScript characters.
The following list is how the keys
map using my printer. Anyone
using a different one may find that
they have to discover the relevant
match for themselves.
To make things even easier an
Exec file can be set up in Protext
with the keys producing a complete
symbol with a single keystroke (two
really). For example the infinity
sign would need a line like this:
KEY I "T24TxYT24Tx" ; infinity
The only drawback with this
technique is the time it takes to
load LocoScript and print out the
DOWNLOAD document first.
Fortunately this only has to be
done when you need to print out a
Protext document with the
mathematical symbols in.
Kai Arste
Llantwit Major
South Glamorgan
TIPOFFS
<
1
>
2
)
*
a
G
♦
3
c
C
5
H
*
5
c
b
•Y
J
X
6
n
n
X
K
•
7
i
m
I
L
1/
8
*
(
:
—
9
V
Q
[
<
]
=
1
W
1
>
A
e
4>
E
T
Z
a
i
R
-1
X
=
[
H
T
e
c
»
]
00
Y
Q
V
e
a
V
U
X
B
n
d
<P
I
*
N
II
f
r
A
M
3
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X
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3
h
p
A
e
U
J
V
S
V
*
V
k
Tt
D
J
**
/
1
or
F
-»
\
The DOWNLOAD file
and the
character equivalents in Protex
SWITCH 1 2
3
4 5 6
7 8
SWITCH
BLOCK
1 ON ON
ON
OFF OFF OFF
ON OFF
2 OFF OFF
OFF
OFF OFF ON
OFF OFF
Dippy
g
Having had problems with
my 24 Pin Epson LQ500
printer, and solved them,
others might be interested
in the correct DIP (stands for Dual
In-line Package) switch settings for
this range of machines.
This gives you USA international
character set. Roman font,
condensed mode off, graphics
character table, CSF off. Page
length 11", CSF page 61 lines, 1"
skip off, auto line feed off, input
buffer 1 K, bidirectional graphics
print and character pitch 10.
Roger Bonnet
Dover
Nothing hard
•3
It can be very irritating to
see LocoScript chopping
up pairs of words that you
wanted to keep together.
There are two ways to stop this
from happening.
Hard spaces are the first
method. For example, if you have a
name like A. Person you wouldn't
want the initial seperated from the
surname. Instead of putting in an
ordinary space use a hard space,
which you get by pressing [+]space.
Now the two parts of the name will
always appear on the same line.
A similar trick can be done with
hyphens. Normally, a hyphenated
word will split at the hyphen if it
needs to wrap to the next line. An
hard hyphen will ensure that the two
parts stay togther. To put a hard
hyphen into a word use [+]hyphen
and the two will be treated as a
single word by LocoScript.
Donald Sawyer
London
Trepanned
km I have completed brain
ri£l surgery on my 8256, using
IHfJ the information in Amstrad
^S 8000 No 9 of June 1 987
(we'll be doing it again soon,
honest - ed.) and No 1 1 of August
1987 (for a B-drive). All fine, except
I seem to be missing 84K in its M-
drive and it occasionally has a
headache and translates saved
LocoScript 2 blocks into an Indo-
Turkic gibberish script, yet the
new chips seem to be all the
right way round. Why?
One word of warning to other
amateurs: buy a very long - 10
inch - Posidrive screwdriver to
remove and replace the case and
to fix in the new drive.
Warren Shaw
London
8000 PLUS Bit ol a Bobby Puzzler this
one. Assuming no physical damage to the
board the most likely problem is a leggy
bug, which is to say that one or more ol the
new memory chips failed to seat properly.
It may be that a leg became bent beneath
a chip instead ol sliding into the hole in
the carrier. Remove the board and
visually check the chips, using a mirror
on a stick il necessary. Less likely is a
faulty chip, but you can only test lor that
by replacing them.
Twisted perception
■<«■ I have bought a Star
rykl LC24-10 printer lo use
LwJ with my 9512. It works
Hhk9 well with LocoScript. using
the correct printer driver supplied
by Locomotive Software.
Things are not so good with
CP/M. When I use a graphics
package (DR Graph) that takes
advantage of the GSX system the
quality or printout is abysmal. What
should be pie charts end up as
ovals rather than circles. The text
also looks pretty ragged.
When using GSX I use the
high resolution printer driver
DDFXHR8.PRI supplied on the
CP/M disk. Do I need to have a
special printer driver for 24-pin
printing? If so. does such a
driver exist?
Nigel Bickerton
Merseyside
8000 PLUS When a pnnter - other than
the built in PCW printers - prints text it
does so from information held internally in
the printer itself. This means that the
computer simply sends a single number
and gets a character printed. However,
the situation with graphics is different.
Graphic information is sent as a block ol
data which has to be mapped onto the
pins ol the pnnter. Since 9 pin printers
obviously have 9 pins and 24 pin printers
have two rows ol twelve pins they aren't
going to behave the same.
Few programs on the PCW have
24 pin graphic drivers. In lad the only one
we know ol is MicroDesign II (reviewed in
this issue).
8000 PLUS Somber 89 73
SOFTWARE
There are broadly two different types of
database, and which suits you best depends,
of course, on what you want it for.
Firstly there's the simple card index substi-
tute. For many home users, this will be the kind
of thing you want - all it does is store your
address book or stock items so that you can
easily look them up.
A more sophisticated option is the pro-
grammable database. With these, in addition to
allowing simple card index retrieval there is a
command language which allows you to anal-
yse the data on the cards. For example, you
could automatically add up the money owed to
you by all your customers from Yorkshire. To
make best use of this kind of facility, you will
need to be able to understand a little program-
ming, although it's not too hard really.
A bit of jargon now. A database is said to
consist of records - this is just like a card in a
conventional card file, with all someone's
details on it. Each record is composed of fields
- a field is a single entry on a card, like some-
one's name, or age, or postcode.
The thing that makes a database special is
an index. You might be able to hold your
address book as a simple list in a word proces-
sor document, but if it gets large then this
becomes unwieldy. An index means that the
database has worked out which order records
should be in, so it can go straight to the one
you want without looking at lots of others first.
The field that you use as your index (e.g.
someone's surname) is said to be a key field,
and can be looked up very fast compared to
"non-key" fields. A good database will allow
multiple keys, meaning that it can look up data
just as fast for a variety of types of information.
Masterf ile 8000
£49.95 • Campbell Systems • 0378 77762/3
A specially written PCW version ol the successful database
sold on other Amstrad computers. It is fully menu controlled,
and makes good use ol the PCWs special screen and keys. It
can deal with up to 8 separate data tiles al once, so can cope
with relational databases. Screen (but not printed output) can
be elaborately laid out with boxes, lines etc.
PLUSES • MINUSES
These pages provide a comprehensive guide to the Amstrad
PCW software. Published in three monthly parts, this time it's
the turn of Databases, Educational Software, Communications and
Programming Languages. We've set out to cover every important
piece of software we could lay our hands on,
and to give you enough information to decide whether they are
suitable for you.
All software will run on both the 9512 and the 8000 series
machines, though the former's daisywheel printer cannot print
graphical output.
The selection isn't comprehensive, but the software listed here
represents what we think is the best of that currently available.
As well as a brief summary of what they do, the main Plus and
Minus points for each program are listed -
Pluses have a A by them, Minuses a T . Those we think are
particularly noteworthy have a corner flash.
Have fun window shopping!
Works last
Wide range ol Layout options
Handles 'relational' tiles
Plenty ot good example files
Can do arithmetic calculations within its records
Capacity limited by size ol M drive - best on an 851 2
Takes a while to learn all the teatures
Cambase II
£49.95 • Cambrian Software • 0766 831878
New version of the old favourite PCW database. Most
important change is the Copy Filespec facility. You can set
up a new database with potentially more enthes than
you've made provision for using the information from the
original database. You can also change the fields to suit
another set-up.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Quick and efficient to use
▲ You can set up a database blueprint (Filespec) which you
can lest thoroughly before entering data
▲ Includes powerful features like conditionals, loops, field
validation, and specified layouls
▲ Simple parts of the program are well
covered in the manual
▼ Cant use the memory bad news for 8256 users
▼ You have to guess how to use the more advanced features
▼ Not much room for prompts
▼ Tendency to crash occasionally in Filespec
LocoFile
£29,95 Locomotive 0306740606
The indexed pop-up database that runs from within LocoScript
2 and that goes even further toward turning LocoScript 2 into
a completely integraled software package. Unlike most
databases empty records take up almost no space on disc.
This allows large record cards to be detined even it they won't
always be used. Records pop up very quickly without having
to exit from your document. Works best when used in conjunc-
tion with LocoM.nl
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Very easy to use
▲ Unusually etlicient use ol disc space
A Can alter existing index - a very powerful leature indeed
▲ Automatically upgrades your LocoScript, LocoMail and
LocoSpell to version 2.2
A Sample databases help you get a better leel lor
the program
A Very flexible when designed the record format
A Carries out searches on partial strings - ideal for when
dealing with incomplete information
Chibase 3.0
£29.95 Chiasma 06333 60996
The updated version of the 'free format' database. You type
in the text, mark the words to be indexed and treat the tile
as a database. The updated version allows you to import
and export ASCII data files and a chain delete option
enables you to work your way methodically through the
database deleting the records you don't want while keeping
[hose that you do.
PLUSES ■ MINUSES
A Good amend, sort and recall features
A You can edit without a word processor
▲ Searches quickly through data
▲ Great for storing large amounts of data where the
subject matter is variable
▲ Useful record template
▼ Can't run Irom M drive
Delta
£99.99 • Compsoft • 04868 25925
Delta is another of the heavyweights, like dBase II and
Condor, but unlike them is fully menu driven. Although the
screen layouts are fully flexible, there is a default "quick"
layout so you don't have to sweat at defining your own. It
could use better record indexing facilities. Particularly good
for writing applications, once you have ploughed through
the large manual.
PLUSES - MINUSES
A Records can contain up to 90 fields, plus groups of
fields that may be repeated
▲ Screen layout can be user defined, or -quick" mode used
▲ Single page teller writer provides detailed mail merge
A Processes can be defined, and run from user defined
menus, for ease of use by others
▲ Very full, and quite readable, manual
▼ Only one field may be used for indexing
▼ Very big program - a PCW8256 would be hard pushed
▼ Some of the menu operations are unforgiving to errors
Pocket InfoStar
£69.50 • MicroPro/DRA • 0386 841181
Consists ot two large programs. DalaStar and ReportStar
(both available independently!. DataStar Is a conventional
database, with screen card layout and Indexing. ReportStar
then generates the printed output, either from DataStar or
CalcStar files. Powerful if you can use them, but the suite is
hornlically overcomplicated, and the documentation lust
incomprehensible.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A DataStar is a quite good database with indexing and
calculated lields.
A -Transaction processing" feature allows cross referencing
of data Hies.
▲ Can be integrated with other Pocket products,
eg WordStar
A Can take up to 255 fields per record
▼ Two volume manual set is very badly organised.
T There are separate programs to run lor form design, data
entry and reporting.
▼ Operation is all by obscure command keys, a la WordStar.
Chibase
£49.95 • Chiasma • 06333 60996
A 'free format' database, which means you don't have to go
through the usual rigmarole of defining your record format
before you can enter your data. Instead, you lust type text into
Chibase, mark the words to be indexed, and it can then treat
that file as a database.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Doesn'l require you to set up a preset 'record' card
A Searches through your data very quickly
A Allows you to select up to 50 keys lor each page of text
A Allows editing of text without a word processor
▼ No sample file for you lo learn on
74 8000 PLUS Septembers!
1Mb DISK DRIVE
£450 OF SOFTWARE
ARCADE GAMES
Arfcanoid II Imagine
Beyond Tht Ice Palace Bile
Black Lamp Firebird
Buggy Boy Elite
Chopper X Mastertronic
Ikari Warrlora Elite
Marble Madness Electronic Arte
Ouadrallen Logotron
Ranarama Hewson Consultants
Return To Genesis Firebird
Roadwars
Starquafce
Tost Drive
Thrual
Thundercats
Wiiboll
Xenon
Zynaps
Melbourne House
Mandarin
Electronic Arts
Firebird
Elite
Ocean
Melbourne House
Hewson Consultants
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£9.99
£14.95
£24.95
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£24.95
£9.95
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£19.99
SPORTS SIMULATIONS
•ant i.i aoi on io a Hying sun E<H\* Edwardi Super Ski
:iuow ■ 520ST-fM Seconds Out
rn« Alan Supe 1 Pack is meal lot y<
*iin the Dost »n antartainmant sot
with -.Mo HAM. a builtHn 1Mb da*, mm mat WSO or up gamaa am a ft.V.mai Olwnnlad Rfl
loywc. II you 0u» l« Sup» Pacn al Silica Snoo. ». will and our own ST "
Slanar Kn (worth ovar COO). Free Ol Charge Return the coupon for details
Elite £19.95
Tynesolt £19.95
Tynesoft £19.95
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE
Organiser Triangle Publishing £49.95
JOYSTICK
Atari CX40 Joystick Atari Corp £4.99
INCLUDING VAT
FREE ATARI BUNDLE VALUE:£458.97
With SM124 mono monitor: £4981
With SC1224 colour monitor: £69888
1040ST-FM PROFESSIONAL PACK
NOW WITH TV MODULATOR
For the serious homo user and the small business, we are
pleased lo announce a new packago based around the
1040ST-FM The 1040ST-FM has 1Mbyte RAM and a
1Mbyte built-in disk drive In addition, the 1040ST-FM
now comes with a TV modulator built-in. (The previously
available 1040ST-F was designed tor use with a monitor
only and did not come with a modulator.) This modulator
allows the 1040ST-F to be plugged directly into any
domestic TV set, and comes complete with a leed to
allow you to do so. The new 'Professional Pack' from
Silica includes the new 1040ST-FM with modulator plus
four high quality software packages including a spread-
sheet, database, word processor and programming lang-
uage This 'Professional Pack software will enable you to
get straight down to business with your new computer In
addition to this software (worth £36484), If you buy the
Professional Pack from Silica Shop, you will also receive
the Snica ST Starter Kit (worth over £200), Free Of
Charge Return the coupon for further information.
£499
INCLUDING VAT
With SM1 24 mono monitor £598,
With SC1224 colour monitor: £798!
ATARI 1040ST-FM {Computer) £499.99
VIP PROFESSIONAL iSpreaoshm) £149.95
MICROSOFT WRITE (Word ProcessotI £149.95
SUPERBASE PERSONAL (Database) £59.95
BASIC DISK ft MANUAL (Lanoyapa , £24.96
NORMAL RRP: £884.82
LESS DISCOUNT: - E3B5.82
PROFESSIONAL PACK PRICE: £499.00
2Mb & 4Mb MEGA ST
The MEGA ST computers are styled as as lightweight keyboard with a separate CPU
connected by a colled telephone style cable There are two versions of the MEGA ST
one with 2Mbytes of RAM and the other with 4Mbytes Each version has a t Mbyte
OOuble sided disk drive built-in lo the CPU unit The MEGA ST's do not come with
modulator built-in and must therefore be used with a monitor With every MEGA ST
purchased, we will add the Professional Pack' software (worth £384 63) detailed
above, plus the Sil-
ica ST Starter Kit
(worth over £200)
both Free Of Charge
Return the coupon
lor luriher details
2Mb MEGA ST
£899:
* mono monitor ■ £998
♦ colour monitor -£1198
4Mb MEGA ST
£1199
► mono monitor = £1298
i colour monitor = £1498
DTP Pag eStream £149
♦VAT
=£171.35
Deehiop Publishing IOTP) a on* ol the fastest growing ipplicabom tor personal
computer! We ere pteaseo 10 announce a powerful low cost package 'or the Atan ST
caned PeoeStream PageStream cocta only £W9 (•VAT-cmM) and. because tt
works with an Attn 10S0ST and a Selhoshs SP-180AI prvtter. you can be up and
running .nh a compkfM eynam tor laaa than £1000 Soma ol the features ot
PtgeSl'wm are Mad lo the right If you would Ilka further mtormation on this
program compare and return the coupon Below. Itching the DTP boi »n the corner
• TEXT-FLOW AROUND GRAPHICS
■ ROTATION OF TEXT A GRAPHICS
* SLANT OR TWIST ANV OBJECT
* POSTSCRIPT COMPATIBLE
■ TAG FUNCTION
' AUTO/MANUAL KERNING A HYPHENATION
• GROUPING OF OBJECTS
SX COMPUTERS
The range of Atari ST computers offers something for everyone From the games enthusiast
who wants the challenge of the very best in arcade action, to the businessman who wants to
make financial forecasts or faultless presentations The ST offers high quality graphics,
sound and speed for the gamer, whilst providing a fast, user friendly and affordable solution
to business The ST is now firmly established in the home environment and boasts a wealth
of users in education, local government, television, and a vanety of different businesses
Software for the range stretches to cover applications as diverse as ENTERTAINMENT
ACCOUNTS. ART. COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN. DATABASES.
DESKTOP PUBLISHING. EDUCATION. MUSIC, PROGRAMMING. SPREADSHEETS. WORD
PROCESSING and more For a full list of Ihe software available, as well as details of the ST
range, complete and return the coupon below A*pnama>ma#tt»rm*<*go>%iapim ttot
520ST-FM EXPLORER PACK
WITH BUILT-IN 1Mb DISK DRIVE
The value for money offered by Ihe Atari ST range is reflected in the Explorer Pack
featuring the 520ST-FM computer with 512K RAM The 520ST-FM computer now
comes with a built-in 1 Mb double sided disk drive as well as a free mouse controller
and a built-in TV modulator The new 520ST-FM Explorer Pack includes the 520ST-
FM computer, the arcade game Ranarama, a tutorial program and some useful
desktop accessories. In addition, if you buy the Explorer Pack from Silica, we will
give you the Silica ST Starter Kit worth over £200. FREE OF CHARGE. Return the
coupon for details of our Starter Kit and of the full ST range
+VAT=
* SM124 mono monitor: £398 Z< + SC1224 colour monitor: £598 88
I you already own an Atan ST computer and would like to be tegistared on our mailing list as an
ST user, let us know We will be pleased to send you copies of our price lists and newsletters
FREE OF CHARGE as they become available Complete the coupon and return it to our Sldcup
fjranch and begin experiencing a specialist ST service that is second to none
SIDCXjTP («5c Mail Order) 01-309 1111
1-4 The Mews, Hathorley Road. Sidcup. Kent. DAI 4 4DX
OPEN: MON SAT 9 am - 5 30pm LATE NIGHT: FRIDAY 9am - 7pm
LONDON 01-580 4000
52 Tottenham Court Road, London. W1P OBA
OPEN: MON- SAT 9 30am - 6 00pm LATE NIGHT: NONE
LONDON 01-629 1234 ext 3914
Set 'fridges flat floor) '. Oxford Street, London, W1A JAB
OPEN: MON-SAT 9am - 6 OOpm LATE NIGHT: THURSDAY 9am - 8pm .
Before you decide whan to buy your new Attn ST
computer, we suggest you consider very carefully wH6P.fi
you Buy it There are MANY companies who can offer
you a computer, a few penpherals and the top ten selling
titles There are FEWER companies who can offer a wtde
range of products for your computer and expert advice
and help when you need il There is ONLY ONE
company who can provide the largest range of Atan ST
related products In the UK. a full lima Atan ST speoalmi
techncal helpline and In-depth after sales support. Inc-
luding free newsletters and brochures delivered to your
door for as long as you require after you purchase your
computer That one company is Silica Shop We have
been established in the home computer field for ten years
will an annual turnover in excess of £B million and can
now claim to meet our customers requirements with an
accuracy and understanding which is second to none
But don't |ust take our word for it Complete and return
the coupon below for our latest literature and begm lo
experience the Silca Shop specialist Atan service
SILICA STARTER KIT. Worth over £200. FREE
with every Atan ST computer nought Irom Silica
PROFESSIONAL PACK: Free ousmass sohware
with soaoSTf M ana MEGA ST's bought from SUice
DEDICATED SERVICING: 7 full-tone Atan trained
■tart with years of experience or> Alan servicing
THE FULL STOCK RANGE All ol your Atan
requirements from one place
AFTER SALES SUPPORT: The staff at SMa are
deoicated to help you get the hast from your ST
FREE CATALOGUES: Mailed Oireci to your home
as soon as we print ihem. featuring orten as well
as all ot ihe new releases
FREE OVERNIGHT DELIVERY: On all hardware
orders shipperj within the UK mainland
PRICE HATCH PROMISE- We will match comp-
etitors on a same product same price' basis.
FREE TECHNICAL HELPLINE Full time team or
Atari technical experts atweys al your serve*
FREE SILICA STARTER KIT
WORTH OVER £200
WITH EVERY ST - RETURN COUPON FOR DETAILS
ALL PRICES QUOTED INCLUDE FREE UK DELIVERY
To: Silica Shop Lid, Dcpl Plua 8 0989 1-4 The Mewa, Halherley Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 40X
PLEASE SEND FREE LITERATURE ON THE ATARI
Mr/Mrs/Ms:
Address:
Initials.
Surname:
I ST J
I
I
I
Postcode
Do you already own a computer
Jf so. which one do you own"?
dtpdJ
SOFTWARE
dBase II
£99.00 • Ashton Tate/First Software • 07357 5244
The WordStar ot database packages. Recently licensed
'cheaply' lor Amstrad machines, dBase It is a market leader
in business computing. As you would expect, this means it
is very powerful but very complex. It has a procedure
language to allow you to write programs to manipulate the
data, and you can construct index files for really fast access
to large databases. If you can make the effort to learn it. it'll
serve you well.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Powerful command language lor customised programs
A Indexing facility makes large databases fasl to handle
▲ Can handle very big databases
A The data can be (airly easily altered after its entry
▼ Manual Is daunting (but there are plenty of independent
books on the market)
▼ Can't easily alter the screen record layout
▼ For an expensive package, you still only get 32 fields
per record
▼ Generally untriendly unless you have some
programming skills
First Base
£29.95 • Minerva • 0392 437756
Billed as a simple database lor the lirsl lime user. First Base
is quite a competent cheap card Index. The manual is
computer printed, and weak on diagrams which doesn't help
things. One weakness is getting printed results out ol First
Base - either you settle lor crude lists, or you have to create
a template in LocoScript which is awkward to do. But overall,
it's pretty good value tor money.
PLUSES ■ MINUSES
A Can alter the index field al any lime
▲ Simple lo use screen editing make data entry easy
A Good value as a simple card Index lookup system
▲ Can easily browse through the database picking out a
set by hand
▼ Manual is badly laid out and generally difficult
▼ Producing printed output is awkward
Sasesoft Retrieve
£70 ^agesott • 091 2131555
A high-power package that Is relatively easy to use with pass-
word security if desired, calculations, automatic counting or
deletion of sets of records satisfying given conditions. It also
has sophisticated sort and select commands, and can change
the structure of an existing database. All this is done by a set
of commands rather like a programming language. Printed
formats are rather limited though and the program insists on
using both dnves. making use on an 8256 impractical.
PLUSES ■ MINUSES
▲ Easy to use for a powerful package
A Advanced sorting and selection commands
A Subsets can be written to files
▲ Can count or delete subsets with one command
▲ Label ling/mailmerging routines included
A Can change structure of existing database
▼ Impossibly big program for 8256
▼ Printed output limited - must use mailmerge
Script2BaseyText2Base
£29.95 each Encyclasoft 0270811890
Two free-form databases to be used with LocoScript and
Protext respectively. Complete rewrites of FT=DB. the beauty
of these databases is that you first create all your text on the
word processor and import it as an ordinary (non- ASCII) texl
file into the database. You then mark all the words you want to
see indexed as keywords so that you can go on to compile
indexes and carry out searches.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Very easy to use
A Allows you to organise your collection ol discs like an
encyclopaedia
▲ Can construct new files made up of selected parts of
existing ones
▲ Can send any part of a document to the printer on a
line- by -line basis
▼ No text-editing facilities within the databases themselves
▼ Dreadful documentation
Smartcard
£59.95 • Focus Computers • 0272 420109
A conventional card index database which is now the nearest
thing available to Cardbox . Small and fast, you can sod
the records, index up to three fields and do simple arithmetic
in fields. Can't put background text (eg. titles) on records
or printouts.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Good clear screens
▲ Plenty of on screen help
A Fast and high capacity
A Easy to use
▼ Can't put background text on printed reports
T No way of exporting data (or mailmerge
Magic Filer
£69.95^Sagesoft • 091 2131555
Magic Filer Is not a true database, but is a structured riling sys-
tem. Inlormation is split into a hierarchy ol categories, and
tagged with a keyword which Is not stored as part ol the data.
You can browse through the data, but it will get tedious if you
find it needs updating regularly. Many applications will find
Magic Filer restrictive.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Good lor browsing through data when you don't really know
what's there
A Data can be declared "read only" to protect it Irom alteration
by other browsers
T The basic tiling system is weird but not wonderful
▼ Editing data once in Magic Filer is awkward
T The documentation is far too bhel
▼ You can only have one database per disc
Microfile (Sold in The Micro Collection)
£49.95 • Saxon Computing • 0401 50697
Microfile is a well implemented simple database, driven by
plenty ol menus and on-screen prompts. It's last and has good
screen control, although it has some size restrictions. Microfile
comes as part ol a software suite. The Micro Collection:
which is good value (Microfile, Microwhte. MicroSpread,
Flexilabel and Lock-Ill
PLUSES ■ MINUSES
▲ The price includes competent word processing, spread
sheet, labelling and encryption programs
▲ Plenty ol menus and on screen prompting
A Very flexible lormatting lor screen layout and printing
A Numeric fields can be expressions to be calculated
A Indexing is last and can be on several fields
T Maximum number ot fields per record is only 20
T Limited facilities for totalling up fields in a database
▼ It doesn't always ensure that the cursor is properly aligned
with the exercise text
Educational Software is designed as an aid to
traditional teaching, not an alternative. Its main
use is in re-inforcing traditional learning done
elsewhere and providing the stimulus of a dif-
ferent approach. It can also be especially useful
in rote learning and improving the speed at
which problems can be solved.
Iankey Crash Course
£24.95 • lansyst • 01-607 0187
A fairly traditional typing tutor, taking you through basic
keyboard exercises. There's a lot ot explanatory text, which
gets in the way second time around. Definitely competent,
but a bit boring
PLUSES ■ MINUSES
A Mostly avoids boring letter drills
A Very full on-screen information guides you along
A 'Fast' option cuts out some text il il gels repetitive
▼ Not particularly imaginative use ol graphics
T It doesn't always ensure that the cursor is properly aligned
with the exercise text
2 Fingers Touch Typing
£24.95 -lansyst • 01-607 0187
Despite its provocative name, a useful typing tutor in that it
specifically caters for people who can already get by on key-
boards with two fingers. You are gradually introduced to touch
typing, so your speed doesn 't drop while you team. Fills a
necessary slot in the Typing Tutor market.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Suitable for improving two finger typists without much
drop in speed
▲ Full on screen instructions
A Exercise material is interesting text, not letter drills
▼ Explanation text is annoyingly verbose In some lessons
Giantkiller
£14.95 • Topologika • 0733 244682
A mathematics adventure game loosely based on Jack
and the Beanstalk. Lots of intriguing puzzles which should
stimulate any student up to GCSE standard. Not the best
adventure game ever whtten but great lor making
mathematics fun!
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Puzzles plausibly integrated into scenario
A Progression of game is simple and well defined
A Puzzles introduce a lot of valid mathematics
▼ Program understands only very simple commands
▼ Saving a position takes a move - can be fatal
▼ Won't be of particular help in exams
Animal Vegetable Mineral
World Wise
£14.95 each • Bourne Educational • 0794 523301
Aimed at the younger market. 7- 15 year olds. Both these pro-
grams work by learning as the child uses them. Think of an
object and the computer tries to guess it. If it is wrong, the
child is asked lor a question which would allow the PCW to be
right next time, and it learns.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Can be used as many times as the child's imagination
holds out
A Performance can be analysed by a teacher alter a session
A As you build up a base of objects and questions, they can
be saved for reuse
T II needs a lot ol typing, hence a lot of supervision
▼ The PCW starts with only two objects known , so it takes
time to get going
▼ Documentation has hardly been altered Irom cassette
based versions
▼ Since it is for young children, more imaginative use of the
screen would be nice
Better Spelling
£16.95 • School Software Ltd • 010 353 61 45399
This is a spelling course aimed at the 8 to adult age group.
It consists of a series of well organised, short lessons
each dealing with one topic, like plurals or which version
of thereAheir/they're to use in a sentence. The use ot
the PCW screen is rather unimaginative, and doesn't hold
your attention.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Well thought out lessons to emphasise particular points
A Teaches words in a sentence context as well as in isolation
A Lessons can be picked in any order from a menu
A Seems to be proof against mischievous key pressing
T Boring use of the screen doesn't grab Interest
▼ No instructions come as to how to use the program.
Chemistry • Biology
£22.95 each • School Software • 010 353 61 45399
These two are faidy traditional question-and-answer tests.
You are faced with a choice of 10 topics, and then asked
to or so questions each, where you have lo till in the blank
in a statement. There are preamble notes beforehand, and
it you get it wrong you are given a due. Aimed al 12- 16
year olds.
PLUSES i MINUSES
A Questions would challenge a GCSE pupil well
A Preamble notes introduce topics
▼ The fill in the blank questioning style has tittle flexibility for
different answers
▼ No option to add questions for a specialised syllabus
▼ Some careless errors, like incorrect facts and hard lo
decipher chemical lormulae
Micro Maths
£24.95 -LCL- 0491 579345
Supposedly covering 8 to adult ages, this seems an O-level
type program, covering topics Irom calculus to tables. A good
implementation on the PCW with proper use ol the screen
Ouestions are picked at random from a pool, so may repeat
but never run out. Replies to questions are typed in mathe-
matical notation, like XT2+3
PLUSES • MINUSES
A You can pause to use BASIC as a calculator while
you think
A 'Unlimited' question sel
A Comes with a free' book ol AEB O level questions
A Good hints and explanations
76 8000 PLUS Septembers)
RC.W LOCK-SMITH
The LOCKSMITH is a combined disc editor and lormat emulator. Allowing you
to edit, examine and transter most non-standard formated disc sectors
automatically, but for those more complicated formats, LOCKSMITH will give
you options to edit disc parameters so as to emulate even more non-standard
formats.
The LOCKSMITH is designed for ultimate user friendliness, has an on screen
cursor controlled menu, giving access to over twenty options, enabling easy
disc editing to be carried out whether you are an expert or not.
The PCW LOCKSMITH costs only C24.95 inc from:
MICHIAN SOFTWARE, 15 SALISBURY STREET, CRANBORNE,
WIMBORNE, DORSET, BH21 5PU
(Cheques made payable to MICHIAN SOFTWARE)
As an introductory offer we are giving free on the same disc, a copy of the
MICHIAN DISC CLONE to all orders received by September 30th.
AMSOFT 3" DISCS • £24.95 FOR 10
DISC BOXES - TO HOLD 40 X 3" DISCS
ONLY £9.95
8256/8512 FABRIC RIBBONS - £2.99 EACH
9512 RIBBONS - £2.75 EACH
AMSTRAD PCW 9512 - £510 inc VAT
AMSTRAD PCW 8512 - £499 inc VAT
AMSTRAD PCW 8256 - £389 inc VAT
PCW Catalogue now available - contact us tor details
All our prices include VAT & 1st class post (UK only)
Postage overseas ■ please apply for rates
The price you see is the price you pay
Order now from:-
K & If COMPUTERS, BP
140 SANDY LANE CENTRE
SKELMERSDALE, LANCS, WN8 8LH.
24 hours phone 0695 29046
AM
ml
STRAP
COMPUTER
REPAIRS
-
We repair Amstrad models 464. 664. 6128. 8256. 8512.
PC 1512 and Amstrad Monitors.
All repairs carry a 3 month warranty.
* Maintenance now available in West London *
PHONE US NOW FOR DETAILS
SUREDATA
TELEPHONE: 01-902 5218
DEPT+. UNIT 6
STANLEY HOUSE
STANLEY AVENUE
WEMBLEY. MIDDX HAO 4JB
AMS ( I%?L1) f py<FES r En r fi$(g
Professional Page Make- Up & Laser or
Linotronic 300 Printout From Your
PCW8256/8512 Discs
You wordprocess the text,
we do the rest!
Producing a book, booklet, pamphlet,
brochure, newspaper, newsletter, CM, or
leaflet? For a free, no obligation quote
Tel: 01-450 4767
ijolconila fysponst •Publications, II 'llmcnt ijanicns, London. -\\\'2
7X3. 'Ja\: 01-2080084 'Electronic mnifboxno: 72:9{HG32130
gg
Supermaths
WW
Specially written for Amstrad PCW Computers. User-friendly, enjoyable
package: multiplication (including tables), division, addition and subtraction
(4 levels of difficulty) - ages 5 upwards.
PRACTICE and TEST modes. Scores shown, success rewarded.
PRACTICE mode corrects mistakes. In TEST mode you answer questions
against the clock.
WORKSHEET mode produces worksheets on the printer with a choice of
two different styles, with separate answers.
Can provide hours of competitive fun while improving numeracy skills.
Suitable for home and classroom alike.
Also available for Amstrad PC Computers and Compatibles.
Price E16.95 inc VAT P&P (cheques payable to Abacus Software)
send payment with order to:
11 Woodcote Drive, Orpington, Kent BR6 8DB
MAKE YOUR AMSTRAD EARN!
Yes making money with your Amstrad becomes incidental when you know how.
Your micro is, if only you knew it, a gold mine. The size and make is irrelevant.
Make the initial effort NOW by starting your own
HOME BASED BUSINESS
This may be the most important move you will ever make!
REMEMBER: You'll never get rich by digging someone else's "ditch". Anyone in the
country, including YOU, can become very rich in a relatively short period of time just
by doing a few basic things 1 It's more rewarding than playing games. The benefits
are many and varied. Full or part time. For FREE details send S.A.E. to:
HOME BASED
BUSINESS
31, PILTON PLACE (8+8)
KING AND QUEEN STREET,
WALWORTH, LONDON SE17 1DR
A Complete
Service in
Computers &
Software.
Miles Better Software
219/221 Cannock Road,
Chadsmoor, Cannock
Staff ordshire,WS11 2DD
Telephone:
(0543) 466577/8/9
Word Processing
Locoscrlpt 2 £24.00
Locoscript 2 + Locospcll 2 ..£33.00
Locospell2 £18.70
Locomatl 2 £27.00
Locofont £17.50
Locofont 2 £13.00
24 Pin Drivers 8256/8512. .£21.00
24 Fin Drivers 9512 £21.00
Tasword 8000 £17.95
Tasspell 8000 £1 1.95
Tasprint £17.95
Desktop Publishing / Graphics
AMX Stop Press £36.40
AMX Stop Press + Mouse. ...£70.00
AMX Desktop + Mouse £62.00
Desktop Publisher + Mouse £62.00
Master Scan £63.00
Master Scan + Paint £67.00
Master Paint £15.00
Digital Research Draw £29.00
Digital Research Graph £29.00
Micro Design 11 £39.95
Integrated Packages
Mini Office Professional +...£34.95
Spell Checker + Thesaurus.£18.95
Plan It £15.00
Databases
Masterfile 8000 £30.00
Datastore II £27.00
Locofllc 8256/8512 £27.00
Loco file 9512 £27.00
Utilities & Program Development
Turbo Pascal £69.00
C-Basic Compiler £29.00
Pascal MT+ £29.00
Rotate £29.00
Datafax £32.95
Easy Ubeller 8256/85 12... £29.00
Easy Ubeller 9512 £29.00
Hisoft Pascal 80 £32.95
Hisoft Devpac 80 £32.95
Spreadsheets
Supercalc2 £42.00
Cracker II £39.00
Accounting
Accounts Plus £95.00
Popular Accounts £69.00
Invoicing £42.00
Payroll £42.00
Money Manager Plus £27.95
Personal Tax Planner £18.95
Stockmarket £29.95
SBACash £45.00
Just a selection from our vast range of computer software.
All goods sent within 24 hours.
Please make cheques, postal orders payable to:
"Miles Better Software"
Access/Visa orders please phone for immediate dispatch.
Visitors Welcome.
SOFTWARE
▼ Questions in a topic repeat oecas'onally
▼ Some frills, like the clock and beeper, are annoying
▼ No flexibility to add questions foi a particular syllabus
Amstat 1,2,3,4,6 and 7
£28 - £40 • SC Coleman Ltd • 0530 415919
A suite of six statistical routines including a business
analysis program, forecasting and resource management.
Individual prices range from £27 95 to £39.95. Very
sophisticated, and perhaps because of that, a little awkward
for beginners.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Good range of statistical functions
A Good manual
▲ Can produce good quality graphical results
▼ Some editing procedures very long winded
▼ Needs some expertise to use properly
T Weak on checking that input data is reasonable.
Yes Chancellor!
£14.95 • Topologika • 0733 244682
Waif! Don't skip over Yes Chancellor! because it calls itself
an economic simulation' program. Instructive and fun to
use. you type in your annual budgets (tax rates, public
spending etc.) and see your popularity plunge and the
economy crash Great for economics classes, also an
amusing game in itself.
PLUSES i MINUSES
▲ Simple but effective model of the economy
▲ Comes with booklet explaining economic principles
A Great for teaching economic and political pragmatism'
▼ Can gel boring as a game
▼ You can't adjust the model of the economy, so it can be
too simple
Write Right
£9.99 Wadd Soft 0253721303
Program consists of 24 sets of multiple choice questions
designed to test and improve the student's knowledge of the
English language: senience construction, spelling, punctua-
tion, vocabulary, for example.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Covers all the most important aspects of language learning
▲ Very addictive
▲ Good fun and easy to use
Ultimate Quiz
£14.95 David Greenhough Computing 0274640764
An educational aid for school age children. Two quizzes on a
multiple choice format are available on the one disc. The first
one is a general knowledge quiz, the second is based on the
Highway Code You can play against a timer and can set the
level of difficulty.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Optional noughts and crosses game included with
either quizz
A Incorporates an editing file for easy updating ol questions
▲ It's very versatile up to 8 people can play
A Provides hours of general knowledge fun
A None of the questions are repeated
▼ Some of the questions are a little esoteric
Supermaths
£16.95 Abacus Software 068936293
Specifically designed tor the PCW, this program exercises
basic numeracy skills in children Questions are asked in quick
fire volleys of fen and cover all four operations (addition, sub-
traction, multiplication and so on). Scores are automatically
recorded.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Special onginal Test and Worksheet modes included the
latter is ideal for teachers
A Very efficient scoring method
A Numeracy level »s vnry basic
A New version has enhanced screen displays
▼ Some of the questions may start to look familiar after a white
Language Tutors
£19.95 each Kosmos Software 052553942/5406
Four programs with identical formats to help you learn French,
Italian. Spanish and Gennan. They can be used just as effec-
tively by students of those languages learning English too.
Very versatile series of programs and useful adjuncts to con-
ventional language learning.
PLUSES ■ MINUSES
A Can edit the lessons yourself to include new words
A Useful self test option
A Completely bi lingual packages
▼ Purely for vocabulary learning no grammar lessons
▼ Would have been more useful if they had also Included
audio cassettes
Maths Mania
£16.95 School Software Ltd 010 353 61 45399
For children between the ages of 8 and 12. this program offers
5 levels of difficulty in multiplication and 2 in division. A very
good program for exercising basic numeracy skills and for
practising some mental ahthmelic.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Program provides a chirpy feedback on the score of the user
A Large attractive numbers appear on the screen
▼ Surpnsingty enough, no addition or subtraction exercises
are provided
▼ Screens could be made more visually exciting for the
younger users
Better Maths
£16.95 School Software Ltd 010 353 61 45399
A continuation of Maths Mania tor the next age group 12 to 16
year olds. Topics are very vahed and cover among others.
statistics, simple interest and algebra. Each topic consists of a
series of ten multiple choice questions. At the end of each set.
the percentage scored is shown.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Realistic level of difficulty practised
A Program makes a first class revision aid
Communicatii
Communications is one ol the glittering areas of
computing, gurus would have you believe. It can
provide a fascinating hobby for 'hackers', but
more importantly it is a valuable business tool.
'Electronic mail' is just what it says: you use
your PCW to send messages, which can be
documents thousands of words long, to others
on the electronic mail system. The best known
system of this kind is Telecom Gold, which also
allows you to send telexes. Another major sys-
tem is Prestel, which is more of an information
provider - you can read share prices, weather
information and other news direct from your
phone line.
For any professional service, you pay a reg-
istration fee, plus a connection charge - typical-
ly around 10p per minute you use the system.
Of course, your phone bills are extra. For hob-
byists there are also 'Bulletin boards', which are
effectively a kind of private electronic mail sys-
tem run by a system operator (a 'sysop' to
those in the know).
To use any service, you will need to buy a
modem and an interface. A modem allows you
to send computer signals down a phone line,
and the interface gets the signals from your
PCW to your modem. The pair will set you back
£200 or more. Once done, you need some soft-
ware to allow you to send and receive data, and
it is this software reviewed below.
Electronic mail services just send strings of
characters to and fro, whereas Prestel is a
'Viewdata' system, meaning it sends pictures
and graphics too. Software needs to do more to
receive Viewdata graphics, so if you want to
use Prestel make sore your software is up to it.
8256UKM7.COM
Public domain (ie. free!)
P.O. software documentation is often poor but this program has
an above average document file. UKM7 was written to support
ASCII file transfers using error correction and as a dumb termi-
nal either for use over the phone or between two Amstrads.
Between two PCW's file transfer is possible at a staggering
31.250 baud which is even faster than PIP! Easy to use for
beginners and better than KERMIT. UKM7 provides a cheap
and excellent way to communications after you've got fed up
with the PCW's MAIL23Z 8256UKM7 is available from the
Public Domain Special Interest Group, or mosl bulletin boards
supporting the PCW machines
PLUSES - MINUSES
A Cheap 1 (the price of a phone call)
A Easy to use, and helpful menus
▼ Modem7 version of Xmodem error checking supported
T Single file and Batch Mode transfers
▼ "Quiet" mode for slightly faster transfers {on-line transfer
progress report disabled)
▼ Only ASCII, no Viewdata
▼ You need to find a PD software source (eg. use a modem
and MAIL232 software)
Mini Office Professional
£29.95 • Database Software • 0625 878888
Mini Office is a suite of five integrated programs,
database, word processor, spreadsheet, graphics module -
and a comms package which is as comprehensive as any-
thing else on the madtet. It can display both ordinary
text screens and the 'Viewdata ' block graphics used by
Prestel. You are offered baud rates from 75 to 9600.
separately set for transmit and receive, straight terminal
emulation for use with Telecom Gold, and XMODEM and
KERMfT file transfer protocols for error-proof transfer of I
ong files. Would be well worth the money just by itself -
and of course you're getting four other very good
programs as well.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Very comprehensive - a genuinely useful comms package
A Ordinary text and 'Viewdata' block graphics
A Can save setups under names and recall them, so you
only need work out your baud rates/parities once
A You can set keys to return strings, such as Telecom Gold
passwords
A Comes preconfigured to use Prestel and Telecom Gold
A Manual ts of very little use
Chitchat E-Mail/
Viewdata/Combo
Sagesoft • E69.99/E69.99/E99.99 • 091 284 7077
Two communications programs for the 8000 series machines
that have been around tor a good time now. Most of the fea-
tures you will need are here: message text editor, prepro-
gramming unattended tasksi if you use a suitable "intelligent"
modem), directory of stored numbers, copy to printer, and a
very useful connect time clock so you can watch your phone
bill climb! E-mail is used for simple text phone links like
Telecom Gold, whereas you'll need Viewdata if you want to
use Prestel The Combo pack contains both E-mail and
Viewdata.
PLUSES -MINUSES
A Good, clear documentation
A Easy for first timers to use
A Built in text editor for pre-sending message preparation
A Pre-definable tasks executable at any preset time if
unattended.
▼ No error corrected file transfer (i.e. Xmodem or CRC)
Dialup
£89.99 • PBS Communications ■ 021-643 7688
Offers both E-mail and Viewdata operations. Very easy to
use. and offers an XMODEM transfer protocol unlike Sage
ChitChat. If you are buying a modem too there are some
cut-price bundled deals to be had. eg. the Miracle Technology
WS4000 modem.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Simple to use
A Comprehensive file transfer commands, including
XMODEM and the increasingly popular KERMIT
A Runs from the M drive
▼ Manual is not PCW specific, and the references to
5 25 discs are tedious
COMM+
£86.25 • NewStar • 0277 220573
This single package combines both ASCII and full Viewdata
block graphics and Telesoftware downloading. A very power-
ful command language allows you to look for particular mes-
sages coming in and take actions, even while doing other
things. Its use is only limited by your programming ability.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Very comprehensive and well indexed nngbound manual
A High quality Viewdata graphics
A Well presented on-line help menus for use by beginners
A Autodialler program works with most modems
78 8000 PLUS September 89
SOFTWARE
Telesoltware downloading facility, with CRC/Xmodem
checking
Very powerful command language, doesn't need much
programming skill lo learn
Not recommended for absolute beginners to
communications
Programming languages come as either
compilers' or 'interpreters' - compilers pre
process the program into machine code, so
are much faster. The PCW's standard Mallard
BASIC and LOGO are both interpreters.
Compilers are generally more cumbersome
to use than interpreters, but have various
benefits for serious programmers.
With language compilers in particular it is
difficult to discover whether they are reliable
and efficient without spending many weeks
working with them, impossible for a brief
review. If you use a specialised programming
language and have any comments that would
help us compile a good software file entry for it,
we would be pleased to hear from you.
HiSoft C
£3955- HiSoft- 0525 718181
A very good C compiler, fast, produces good compact code. It
comes complete with the HiSoft integrated text editor ED80.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Compiles program inlo ordinary CPM .COM file
▲ Produces compact code
A Fast and inexpensive
A Comes with integrated text editor
▼ No floating point arithmetic
ArnorC
£49.95 -Amor -0733 68909
Good compiler with floating point arithmetic, but not as fast or
as cheap as HiSoft C.
PLUSES • MINUSES
▲ Excellent integrated text editor
▲ Floating point arithmetic
▼ Cumbersome to produce .COM files, needs special run
time support program
▼ HiSoft C is (aster and cheaper
MIXC
£29.95 -Advantage -0242 224340
American C compiler. You can buy a full screen editor with it
for €19.95 extra. Also machine code assembler & examples
for £8.95 each.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Features an excellent C tutorial
A Comprehensive implementation and massive manual
▼ Not for the newcomer to programming
Pascal 80
£39,95 • Hisoft • 0525 718181
A standard full Pascal compiler that produces compact code.
Comes with the ED80 text editor and a stand alone program-
mers editor.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Well integrated text editor - when you hit a compilation
error you are returned to the correct point to edit it
A Short compilation time, economical on memory
T Manual makes no attempt to teach you Pascal
Hisoft Forth
£19.95 -Hisoft -0525 718181
Forth is an unusual language, somewhere between
assembler and C. This is one of the few compilers
available tor the PCW
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Comes with a Forth editor
A Quick and efficient implementation
▼ Manual doesn't teach you Forth
The Vicar
£49 • lansyst • 01-607 5844
A programming tool lor serious programmers. If you have a
several-hundred line program held in several files on a disc,
you can lose track of which variables are used where. The
VICAR produces a concordance listing and other diagnostics,
to help you find bugs and maintain the program.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Easy to use but still flexible through use of options
A Amstrad versions all at a special low price
A Good manual
▼ Only of value on large programs
▼ Limited value to most PCW users (except BASIC buffs)
Modula 2
£45.00 -Hisoft -0525 718181
A compiler. Modula-2 is the successor to Pascal, good for
large programs requiring separate compilation, complete with
text editor.
PLUSES ■ MINUSES
A Full implementation with extensions.
A Includes libraries ol predefined modules
A WordStar type screen editor included
▼ Compilation process is longwinded and not for beginners
CBASIC
£45.00 • Digital Research -0635 35304
The original Basic compiler from Digital Research, and still
one of the best for anyone wanting to produce COM tiles with-
out abandoning their investment in Basic.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Easier programming tool than conventional interpreter
A Very similar to Mallard Basic, so easy to learn
▼ No text editor - you need to buy a programmers editor
such as ED80, or the public domain VD025
▼ Programs don't necessarily work faster than they would in
conventional Basic, sometimes slower
All You Ever ...
£24.95 CP Software 0993823463
Program is ridiculously entitled All You Ever Wanted To Know
About Graphics, the Universe and Everything on the PCW
8256/8512 but were Afraid to Ask. It's for the experienced
programmer who needs fast, smoothly flowing and profes-
sional looking graphics output. It has a library of machine
code routines which you can use in any language from
Mallard Basic to machine code.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A You can produce professional standard graphics
A Demo programs included on the disc
A Routines are very wide ranging
A Excellent value for money
A New routines of latest version concerned with printer
control
▼ Not recommended for beginners
▼ Cumbersome to use from Basic
Pascal/MT
£45 Digital Research 0635 53499
A full implementation of ISO standard DPS<7185 Pascal with a
number of extremely powerful additions. Is very good for
large complex applications both data processing and
system control.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A A very powerful tool lor the serious software writer
A Unlimited program size with modular development and use
of overlays
A Built in assembler
A Improved string handling (over standard Pascal)
A Choice ot BCD real numbers for commercial^ nancial use
▼ No built in text editor
▼ Compiler in general and the manual in particular are not for
beginners
▼ No graphics
DevPac 80 MKII
£49.95 Hisoft 0525718181
Version 2 ol the PCW hacker's first choice ol development
system. Substantially upgraded from the original with a new
quite powerful debugger, and a Mini Officetstyle main
menu from which to run the individual utilities or your own
tinished programs.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Powerful assembler producing REL or COM files
A Good hex facility for Basic programmers
▼ Tex! editor antiquated and clumsy
▼ Weak monitor
Maxam II
£49.95 (£69.95 incl. C) Arnor 0733 68909
CP'M machine code development system incorporating an
editor, assembler and monitor. It will allow you to disassemble
any of the memory banks including extra memory on M drive.
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Very versatile assembly language programming
environment
A Flexible monitor capable of bank swilchng. conditional
breakpoints and symbolic debugging
A Tailored to meet all CP/M Plus programming requirements
A Program can't cope with some undocumented Z80
instructions
A Program assumes basic familianty with the ZBO assembly
language
ArnorC
£49.95 Arnor 073368909
Good compiler with floating point arithmetic, but not as last or
as cheap as Hisoft C. It has a large run time support module
PLUSES • MINUSES
A Excellent integrated text editor
A Floating point arithmetic
A Ideal for anyone learning C
▼ Cumbersome to produce .COM files: needs special run
time support program
▼ HiSoft C is faster and cheaper
NEXT MONTH
The guide continues with the categories of SPEADSHEETS, GRAPHICS and
GAMES. The month after that will cover WORD PROCESSORS, ACCOUNTS/
PAYROLL, UTILITY and DTP software, and the month after that it's back to
this months topics.
Our intention is to keep publishing the three parts of the guide in rotation,
updating it each month to include ail new products. If you would like to see other
sections of the guide, back issues of 8000 Plus are available at #1.75 each.
Meanwhile, if you are aware of any significant omissions or errors in the File as
published, please let us know. We intend to maintain it as THE authoritative
guide to PCW software.
79 8000 PLUS SeWemtM.89
USER DEFINED DATABASE
As Used by Local Authorities All Over The Country
Up to 1000 characters per record. Ideal for large comments or small Holds.
100 fields per screen, placed anywhere and moved al will with no loss of data.
Limitless number of files, screens, reports /documents. Screens bulll on-line.
All fields validated when data entered using simple attributes on fields.
User friendly. Informing the user of mistakes and corrective action needed.
l-ols of printed utilities with screen layouts, report /document layouts, lists of
existing screens and documents detailing associated statistics.
Powerful report /document generator. Create long database reports, or simple
letters automatically as data Is entered, mergelng data and other documents and
using standard search patterns.
Understandable, comprehensive and no-nonsense user manual.
So flexible and powerful yet so easy to use and fast too, the machine does the
work and not the user, as should be the case.
Send for details or £23.95 for speedif detliwi/ lo:
Seniorsure
Dept (8UDD), 24 Uington Close
Hucclecote. Gloucester. GL3 3AZ.
For:- All
PCW
Users
AUTHORS
SELF-PUBLISHING?
* Typesetting from manuscript or disc
* Design / Printing / Binding
* Paperback production
* Warehousing / Packaging /Distribution
Double loop wire binding of manuals etc.
from single items to large runs
Tweedie & Paterson, 4 Back Causeway
Parkliead. Glasgow G31 5HE
Telephone:- 041 556 6337
PCW OWNERS IN THE
NORTHEAST
A SHOP THAT UNDERSTANDS ALL YOUR NEEDS
WE STOCK THE LARGEST RANGE OF PCW
SOFTWARE IN THE AREA
PCW UPGRADES AND REPAIRS
SEPTEMBER SPECIAL OFFERS
Locoiile £24.95
10 CF2 Maxell Disks £22.95
Amcase (holds 10CF2's) £3.99
PCW8256/9512 Printer Maintenance Kit £12.95
Clean Print Ribbon £6.50
3" Drive Head Cleaner £3.99
CPS8256 Interface £59.00
9512 Autosheet Feeder £95.00
Star LC10 Printer £179.00
8256 Upgrade to 8512 £180.00
PCW8256 Memory Upgrade Kit £55.00
PCW Dust Covers £9.99
Although we have changed the name
we will still continue to support
the PCW range as fully as possible
MICRO TYNE
(FORMERLY DIXONS COMPUTER CENTRE)
Leazes Arcade, Leazes Park Road,
Newcastle on Tyne
TEL: (091) 261 4088
All prices include VAT
and carriage
VIDI is made in SCOTLAND
by ROMBO Productions.
6 Fairbaitn Rd. Kirkton North.
Livingston, Scotland EH54 6TS
Telephone (0506) 414631
J & H Training
Interested in Computer Training?
1 Day Courses available on
Word Processing. Database,
Spreadsheet, plus more
Training on Amstrad computers
For details contact Julie or Helen
Tel 0709 873359 Fax 0709 760088
11 Fitzwilliam Avenue, Wath-on-Dearne,
Rotherham S.Yorks S63 7HN
m
FORMS BOX COMPENDIUM
UTILITIES PLUS
TEXTBASE
EXPERT SYSTEM PCW
FIFTHBASE2
The PCW is a tool, not a toy. An efficient aid to running your home and
business. So you want software that does it justice. Versatile and effective,
yet user-friendly. No fills, no fuss • practical programs for professional
results. A range of bestselling packages for the 8256, 8512 and 9512.
expertly tailored to meet every aspect of your needs.
FORMS BOX COMPENDIUM - the stationers on a disc (new extended
version). Over 80 different forms ready to print and use in Personal
Organiser. Home. Finance. Calander, Planner and Business sections. The
business group includes invoice, petty cash, sales record, stock, delivery
and a great many more. £1S.95.
UTILITIES PLUS • dozens of time saving programs. A few examples:
Labels - pub address lists onto sticky labels. File sorter - many options.
Columns - converts text files into 2. 4 or more columns. Vord. sentence
and letter counter. Matrix Printer Setup commands - including large
print, high quality, page formats and many more £24.95.
TEXTBASE - the free-form database that can use text files without
re-typing. £29.95.
EXPERT SYSTEM PCW - a classic rule-based expert system specially
written for the PCW. £29.95.
FIFTHBASE2 - (new version) the intelligent database. Especially good on
question answering, with AND OR logic. Also included - Xbase the
revolutionary database that communicates in english. The Fifthbase2
package is invaluable whatever your area of interest; business, education
or research. £29.95.
All prices inclusive. Money back guarantee and quick despatch,
"just what I wanted and 1 am very pleased" "1 think that this software is
a very good idea" "will prove to be useful, I am sure" "most useful"
Cheques payable to: Disc Design (Dept. 8000). 1st. Floor,
Portico House, 25 Bailgate, Lincoln LN1 3AP.
SPECIAL OFFERS • SPECIAL OFFERS • SPECIAL OFFERS
1.8000 Plus disc labels
Packet of 20 for E1
(when ordered with another product)
Spare labels for your 3" discs in four
different colours— yellow, green, red,
blue. Order Code 8013
2. Copi-Reader
This neat and easy copy holder
features a unique new clip. It can be
positioned on either side of the monitor,
and may be swivelled into position for
best viewing angle, and then to the side
again when not in use.
£6.99 Order Code 8075
Iff
PLUS
COLLECTION
3. Highlighter
Pens
Three for £1.50
For £1 .50 you get green, red and
yellow 8000 Plus-stamped pens in a
clear plastic wallet.
Order Code 8001
4. 8000 plus dust covers
3 piece set for 8256/8512 only £11.95
3 piece set for 9512 only £12.95
Protect your PCW with these specially-
commissioned three-piece 8000
Plus covers.
Order Code 8005 (8256):
...8006(9512)
5. 8000 Plus T-Shirt
The Truly Terrific American Royal Blue T-shirt
with the honour of carrying our 8000 Plus logo
on the left breast. Wear yours with pride and
set yourself above the restl
Price £4.95
Medium Order Code 8071
Large Order Code 8072
6. Magazine Binders
Store up to 12 issues for just £4.95
A superb gold-embossed green
binder. Buy one and watch your
collection grow into the definitive
library of PCW information.
Order Code 8004
Buy two for £9.00 Order Code 8076
7. PCW Luggage
An essential addition for any PCW
owners who want to ensure against
accidental knocks when transporting
their computer. Ideal for writers on
assignment, businessmen when
taking the micro to the office, or
salesmen for demonstrations.
High density foam padding and a
water resistant nylon exterior
make this a strong
and safe piece of
luggage, along with
its adjustable
shoulder strap and
sturdy carry handles.
8.8256/8512
Two separated pouches
for the printer and
keyboard, that then fit
neatly into the large case but leave
room for manuals, etc.
RRP £44.95 8000 Plus Price £35.95
Order Code 8074
9.9512
Two large
cases for the
monitor and
printer, with a separated
pouch for the keyboard that
fits in neatly with the printer
leaves room for manuals, etc.
RRP £58.95 8000 Plus Price £49.95
Order Code 8073
• PRICES INC CARRIAGE & VAT • HOTLINE 0458 74011 t
SPECIAL OFFERS • SPECIAL OFFERS t SPECIAL OFFERS
DIALUP PERSONAL
from PMS Communications.
RRP £89.95
8000 Plus Price £69.95
(Simply the best!!))
One of the best communications software
packages around (and the Editor's favourite!)
It operates via a series of menus and options.
Set it up and it's probably the easiest of comms
packages to use. Works with most modems
(including the two listed below).
Order Code 8087
NEWWORD 2 from Paperback Software
RRP £69.95 8000 Plus Price £39.95
(a of £30!!) |hh^h^^^h
Want to use a 'real' p j» p. p q - -, m,
wordprocessor? wr\w CivD^Av<iV
Lo^Sf e ,rom SOFT WARE-
Use the industry
standard, the classic
WordStar clone.
Completely compatible
with PCs — transfer
your files from
PCW to PC
• 45,000 English
spellchecker and
proof reader
• Extremely fast
• Dictionary look-up for crossword cheats!
• Word count facility
• Full mail-merge facility
• Undelete command, this allows you to escape from the
inevitable slip-ups
• Read-in and edit spreadsheet files from Cracker or SuperCalc.
Easily customisable with on-screen help and very user friendly.
All in all one of the the best word-processors for any computer,
not just the PCW.
Order Code 8082
5 1/4 INCH DISC DRIVE
RRP £166.00 8000 Plus Price £135.00
(a saving of over £30!!)
Need the extra capacity, capability and
compatibility that only comes with a 5 1/4 inch
disc drive ?This drive comes complete with
TDOS which allows MS DOS or PC DOS data
files to be transferred to your PCW. For
example, a data file produced on an IBM
compatible machine using Newword PC can be
transferred to a PCW disc and then, using
Newword PCW, can be edited in any way.
Easy and complete installation and operating
instructions included. ( Works with all PCWs.
Order Code 8089
PACE LINNET
MODEM
RRP £174.80
8000 Plus Price £114.95
(We doubt you can find
it cheaper.)
The best modem in its class.
The best value for money and an
ideal choice for both the beginner
and the hobbyist.
V21/23 baud rate.
(See review issue 35)
Order Code 8088
or why not go for the
AMSTRAD SM2400
RRP £286.35
8000 Plus Price £207.00
(Can you find it cheaper than
£180 plus VAT?)
At a price level where other modem manufacturers
offer only 300/300, 1200/75, 1200/1200 baud rates
(speeds) the Amstrad manages 2400/2400 - twice
the speed of its nearest competitor (which means
cheaper phone bills!). Complete with autodial, auto
answer and totally Hayes compatible, there is
nothing in its class for this money.
See the full review in issue 31/35
Order Code 8090
t PRICES INC CARRIAGE & VAT t HOTLINE 0458 74011 i
SPECIAL OFFERS • SPECIAL OFFERS t SPECIAL OFFERS
BB
AMSTRADASF9512 | N FW
from Amstrad Pic V* *- vv
RRP £115.00 8000 Plus Price £99.95
The latest automatic sheet feeder for the 9512
The ASF9512 is an automatic
sheet feeder for use with the
PCW9512. It will hold up to 30
sheets of paper enabling either
multi page documents or mail-
merge letters to the printed
unattended thereby releasing the
user for other tasks and improving
productivity. The sheet feeder can
be attached or removed in seconds,
leaving the printer to accept
individual sheets of paper or
the standard tractor assembly.
Order Code 8601
BATMAN from Ocean Software
RRP £14.95 8000 Plus
AMSTRAD PCW8256/851 2
Q BASE II from Amstrad Pic
RRP £69.00 8000 Plus Price £49.95
(can you find it cheaper?)
The ultimate in relational
database systems for
labelling, mail-merge and
all database applications..
The industry standard database
package and market leader in
business computing. A database
that allows the user to design and
create a database according to his
needs. Can read files from
Newword, Cracker, etc.
Order Code 8085
HISOFT C from HISOFT
RRP £49 99
8000 Plus Price £24.50 (HALF PRICE!!)
The fastest C compiler for the PCW. Produces fast, good,
compact code.
• Full screen editor
I automatically started on
compilation errors.
• Friendly English error
messages and hints on
how to find bugs.
This C programming system
has been carefully designed
and implemented to make it >> «
easy for a newcomer to learn i %
as well as providing the power \ n
and flexibility that professional |», £
programmers need. [J
Order Code 8086 1 f i
Price £9.95 (8000s only)
Robin has been captured by
Batman's adversaries principally
the Joker, but with some cunning
assistance from the Riddler. The
only hope for escape is to
assemble the trusty Batcraft,
whose parts lie scattered around
the deadly catacombs, then speed
off to rescue Robin. But, with
about 1 50 catacombs and a variety
of villains... you won't find it easy.
Order Code 8091
AMS DISC BOX
RRP £14.95
8000 Plus PRICE £12.95
PLUS FREE pack of 20
8000 Plus disclabels
The latest high quality anti-static storage box.
Finished in high impact resistant plastic
• Hinged smoked perspex lid
• Key operated security Lock
• Stepped Base for easy disc selection
9 Attractive design for convenience
and security
Order Code 8092
PRO PERFORMER AND
INTERFACE from EMR
Software and Interface RRP £149.85 8000 Plus
Price £129.95
Make sweet music on your
PCW with the EMR
Pro- Performer software and
midi-interface; it can
transform your PCW into a
music processor.
"Value for money 5/5"
8000 Plus Issue 35
Order Code 8095
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Don't miss the chance to expand your collection!
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Issue 14 £1.75 Full review of the PCW 9512. Connecting to a
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business software, battery backups. Order code 8022
Issues 15 &16.SOLD OUT!
Issue 17 E1.75 Specialist Software. Stop Press Review. SETKEYS
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Issue 20 £1 .75 Computer filofaxes Mini Office tutorial Add your own
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Issue 21 £1.75 New Locoscript fonts reviewed. Guide to add-ons
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Issue 24 £1.75 9512 Special Report Four-page features back
issues index Astrology, cricket, database reviews DIY Graphics
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analysis Home banking Jeffrey Archer & his PCW's GSX graphics
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with Protext. Amstrad SM2400 Modem. What is C/PM
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Issue 32.£1.75. Astrology on your PCW. Learning C/PM. PCW User
Groups. The Amstrad-Sugar story. Publishing books.
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Issue 33 £1 .75. Four spreadsheets compared. C/PM for beginners. Five
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Order Code 80033
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POSTSCRIPT
A quota of quibbles and queer
quips from quirky quills
Those qwerty keyboards have been noisy of late,
resulting in even more letters falling on the 8000
Plus doormat. After careful perusal of those not
chewed up by the Zapf Dingbat we hereby present
a sample selection. If you want to see your prose in
print then send it to: Postscript, 8000 Plus, 4 Queen
St. Bath BA1 1EJ. Keep them short, pithy and
topical for best results.
Sybil stuff
An avid collector ot wisdom from
your addictive pages. I fell with
delight upon your latest
competition which promises 'never
have trouble with words again'. But
dear 8000 Plus, what about you?
(have trouble with words, I mean).
You instruct to ring in red 'five
subtle differences', but what is the
gauge of subtlety you use? I have
discovered ten differences and am
in complete dismay to distinguish
between them for comparative
subtleties so intend to send in ten
ringed subtle differences.
But again my mind is thrown
into more confusion: 'on a postcard
or sealed envelope'. Do you mean
this? Ah well, search for the
gluepot as well as the scissors.
Mairi Macleod
Edinburgh
8000 PLUS A slight difference ol opinion
there between art and editorial - 1
wondered il anyone would notice. In lad
any entry with live or more differences is
going into the draw. Sorry about that.
Professional.
April 26 Received software; great.
April 29 Received a letter and pre-
paid package to return the software
as Pro-Am had found a bug (I
couldn't) that may or may not be on
my copy.
May 2 Posted software back.
May 5 Received de-bugged copy
with additional features.
How is that for customer relations?
We are all quick to condemn
software houses and I thought you
might like to let my fellow readers
know that some do care about the
end user. As for the program itself I
find it just right for my needs as a
busy photographer; I also find the
same of 8000 Plus as a dedicated
PCW user. Keep up the good work.
E Clarke
Redditch
Worcs
8000 PLUS Always good to get positive
feedback; despite appearances we'd rather
print good news about companies. Both
you and they will be glad to hear that we 're
taking a look at Fotocall soon.
Photographic recall
Smacked wrists
Having read Henning Brondum-
Nielsen's letter (Postscript July '89
About Time') I felt that I would like
to add my four penny worth. There
are some companies that stand by
their delivery dates. For instance
Pro-Am Software.
April 24 Sent for Fotocall
86 8000 PLUS Sepffimteta)
I trust that you will take the time to
correct the impression which your
readers will have received that I
was the idiot who suggested that
Newsweep would replace
SUBMIT.COM in Tip-Offs (p70
August). How, pray tell, do you
intend running the PROFILE.
SUB about which I wrote in the
first place?
Barry Etheridge
Oxford
8000 PLUS It's all apologies this month.
But we got most ol it right, just a shade
over enthusiastic at the end there and yes.
you do need SUBMIT to make the tip work
- A. N. Idiot.
Never say die
My PCW has been made easier to
use in that I don't have to load
Flipper, LocoScript 2, dictionary,
LocoFonts, LocoFiles, CP/M etc
each time I switch on. A friendly
electronic engineer friend put a
switch in that turns the monitor off,
but leaves the computer itself on.
Thus by flicking the monitor switch
I can use the computer almost
immediately.
The trick involves switching
out the heater circuit to the electron
gun in the tube. If not done
correctly this can knock out the
vertical scanning (which is
superimposed on the heater
voltage). Needless to say this is
bad electronic practice, but in good
old AMSTRAD style it does keep
costs down. I have been using it
like this for months, and it appears
to be OK. It is also better for the
circuits as the worst thing you can
do to circuits is turn them on and
off too frequently. Current surges at
switch-on eventually cause
electronic failure.
I call to industry to make a
(mains operated) rechargeable
pack for the expansion port which
would keep the PCW live' so that it
can be turned off at the main
switch.
Anthony N K Johnson
Kent
6TILL VtCV-O^ Wfc'p BE
&6TTfc(2 OFF WiTH A
<5l2 K PAM APP-OS.--
8000 PLUS We tend to leave our PCWs on
all week in the office, switching them off
only at weekends - as you say it saves
loading software and data files back in.
Isenstein actually make the battery pack
you describe, but with the monitor on as
well it can't last all that long. I always
thought it was heating and cooling that
damaged semiconductors.
Clock this
In the May 8000 Plus review of the
SCA Real Time Clock Module you
missed out one most important
minus. Each time the PCW is
switched on, the module feeds the
date and time to the PCW. But it
only feeds hours and minutes, not
seconds. So the time can be up to
half a minute out. Not very
accurate compared to a PCW
which, as you know, gives the time
to the nearest second.
To correct the time to the
nearest second you have to type in
the day, the month, the year, the
hour, the minutes and finally the
seconds! Or do you?
Bob Walker
Hailsham
East Sussex
8000 PLUS No. Or maybe yes. I don't
even have seconds on my watch and I've
been sitting here trying to think why I might
need them. Tell me, what am I missing?
Driving lesson
Your reply to Sean White (Drive
Talking, Tipoffs, issue 34) gave
advice on adding a 3.5" drive to
a PCW. I have three B drives, a 3",
a 3.5" and a 5.25" attached to
my PCW as well as a hard disc
drive (an ASD Peripherals 20
Mbyte) so I have some experience
in this area. A 3.5" drive uses a
different connector from a 5.25"
drive. My Cumana 3.5" drive is
connected to the PCW with
cabling from KDS in Hunstanton.
This has a switch on it to select
between the three different B
drives (only one of them can be
in use as drive B at any one time).
I am sure they could also supply
the appropriate cable without
the switch.
To read and write MS-DOS
discs I use either 2 in1 or MFU
from Moonstone Computing. Both
will deal happily with either 360K
5.25" and 720K 3.5" size discs.
Digby L James
Mitcham
Surrey
8000 PLUS Sounds good to us but we
can't find a number lor KDS. Anyone out
there know it? We can vouch for
Moonstone, their stuff is brilliant.
POSTSCRIPT-
Starting over
The pleasurable anticipation I had
in looking forward to the article on
programming for absolute
beginners' carried me through the
first page of waffle but I was
brought to an abrupt halt as soon
as Mr Childs started to actually
speak about programming. He
mentions subroutines, dimensioned
arrays, goto, gosub etc and I
realised I was less even than an
'absolute beginner'. I need a
dictionary to learn the language
before I can start. Or better still an
article on programming for
absolute beginners. Will you be
able to help?
John Mahoney
Old Colwyn
Clwyd
8000 PLUS We did run a series for
beginners about a year ago, (and will
again). This series isn't aimed at teaching
you Basic but at teaching programming
techniques, which is a bit different. The
best way to learn how things work is to
write a lot ol tittle programs using different
functions. Ten live line programs will teach
you more than one fifty finer. However, we
do try to help <see Learning Curve).
Little perforations
Can you tell me if anyone
manufactures perforated/
continuous A5 paper? If not, I
wonder why not.
Anthony Allen
London
8000 PLUS No demand tor it, guv.
Adding up
I think that 8000 Hlus is being
rather greedy. I am referring to
your classified ads section. You
have increased the rate for
most advertisers from £7.50 to £1
per word (£30 equivalent). This is
a disgrace. Until the increase,
this was a nice little way to
advertise. At £30 for such a small
insert, it's a joke.
I'm glad to see that many
potential advertisers are now
boycotting 8000 Plus classified
ads. In your July issue, you have
only 15 adverts. In previous issues
you have had forty or fifty
advertisers. I suggest you rethink
this policy.
Dave Grimsdale
Bristol
fiOOOPLUS Classified ads are really lor
private transactions, not business, and
believe it or not we provide it as a service
to readers: with the cost ol setting the ads
it isn't profitable (alright, so don't believe it).
Personally. I'd rather use the space lor
editorial, but my publisher won't lei me.
Really wrong
We have recently purchased a
twin drive PCW 8512 and would
like your help on a few problems.
How can we copy all the data on
the Drive A disc on to the disc in
Drive B?
We have some 'ready-made'
programs such as Locofont,
Locofile etc, and would like to
increase our library of programs F-
A-S-T. We would like postal contact
with PCW owners, who would like
to exchange A COPY of their
'ready-made' programs for A
COPY of our 'ready-made'
programs that they require to build
up their library. Any PCW owner
interested in exchanging programs
for their own personal and private
use without any payment of cash,
can write to us.
Godfrey M P Chapman
London
8000 PLUS As you will notice we haven't
printed your address in full. When you buy
programs such as LocoFile you only buy a
licence lor you to use them, not lor anyone
else to do so (read it). Swapping copies is
definitely illegal. Programmers write them
to sell, not lor you to give them away.
Please feed the programmers - thank you
for your consideration.
As lor copying files, we published a
rather nice tip in issue 29 (page 72, Copy
Cat) to copy all fifes from all groups on one
disc to the same groups on another disc
using PIP.
Dead certain
I have had my PCW951 2 for a year
or more and have never had such
a shock as I had today. My morning
session with Locoscript 2.27 was
normal, but when I inserted the
disc in the evening it would not
load. So I reverted to my Master
disc (2.12) and tried to look at the
catalogue of the problematic start
of day disc: Disc Data Error.
I very coolly copied my Master
onto another disc, and it works fine.
Any early thought of 'Virus' left my
head when I successfully loaded
data from my current document
disc (which I used the same
morning.) Is there any explanation
for the sudden death of a disc?
T Gowen
Diss
Norfolk
8000 PLUS As you've discovered, discs
are really very reliable, but eventually they
will die. The problem is usually mechanical
Dust, grit or simple wear on the disc
surface will eventually damage the data
encoded there. For this reason alt
important discs should be backed up.
Buggit
Towards the end of last year, I sent
my Mini Office discs back to
Database Software for an upgrade,
as there were some bugs on the
database module (eg it did not
perform the calculations it should).
The upgraded discs cured these
faults but introduced a new one:
when printing reports with a multi-
line field, the line number is printed
at the end of the line.
I also use Mini Office at work
(a second master, not pirated). I
ordered the new version at the end
of March, using an official order
and asking for an invoice.
Database promptly returned the
order asking for payment. On 11
April, I sent a cheque which was
cashed on 22 May. Have I received
the new version? Have I hell!
Now I like Mini Office. So why
do Database spoil it by providing
such poor technical support and
by advertising (and taking money
for) products they don't actually
have for sale?
M R Stallion
Leigh-on Sea
Essex
8000 PLUS The Mini Office II saga makes
pretty dire reading. The original Mini Office
did at least reach a reasonably usable
condition and perhaps they should have
left it there. Since Database seem finally to
have settled on a version they can sell we
shall be carrying a review next issue (we
couldn't see the point before).
One for all?
T Brightmore (One versus Two in
July's Postscript) was probably
correct in suggesting that Protext is
a better choice when upgrading.
There is also a financial advantage.
I have just upgraded with a Protext
word processing system, which
includes a spellcheck and mail
merge facility, for £39.95 from a
mail order company. Had I decided
on Locomotive software it would
have cost considerably more. Not
only would I have had to buy
LocoSpell and LocoMail, but as my
machine is an 8512 I would have
had to buy LocoScript 2 as well. It
is also likely that I would have
bought Locofile rather than use my
CP/M based database.
Why do PCW 8000's still come
with LocoScript 1 ? Had they been
supplied with LocoScript 2, the
other Locomotive software may
have been a more attractive buy.
Bill Henderson
Blairgowrie
Perthshire
8000 PLUS The big advantage ol Protext
lor most people is speed ol text handling,
while LocoScript is unbeatable when it
comes to control ol the layout of that text
(including foreign language text). What you
upgrade to depends on what you need to
do. For example, if you need the new sheet
feeder then you need to use LocoScript.
The decision as to which LocoScript to
ship with which machine ties with Amstrad,
not Locomotive, and Amstrad are primarily
interested in setting PCWs, not software.
Fast work
What, Mix C slower than BASIC
("Fast Forward", July edition)?
Well, yes it is, if you simply
translate a Basic program into C.
without using ail the power that C
has available. I got it down to 28
seconds just by changing the
output line. And there's a function
to set an array to a particular value,
which is faster than a FOR loop.
I do agree that benchmarks
are usually pretty useless, but I
wouldn't like anyone to get the idea
that Mix C is quite that slow. Any
chance of some C sections in 8000
Plus? Alright, I only asked.
David Aldred
Nottingham
8000 PLUS We don't C why not. In fact
next month we're spotlighting the C
language. As for speed, only pansies
program in high level languages. Real
men use 8080 code, bypass CP/M and
grunt a tot.
Only sleeping
Let's hope that PCWs don't learn to
think like John Connell (What Do
You Think?, Issue 34). Had Gottlob
Frege died in 1972, he would have
been 1 24 years old. Logic is good
for you - but not that good. In fact,
the lamous mathematical logician
died in 1 925 at the age of 77.
Ian Ground
Newcastle upon Tyne
8000 PLUS Anyone can get the numbers
wrong, it's the algorithm that counts.
Read on
I am looking into buying a second
disc drive for my 9512, either a
3.5" or 5.25" drive. Being only
seventeen I have a limited
budget and I do not want to make
a mistake. When the non-standard
drive is fitted to the machine,
does this mean it is an IBM'
compatible machine or
can this never happen? If-"^
Seplembe.89 8000 PLUS 87
POSTSCRIPT-
Also, if the drive is fitted, can
the machine read the discs from
one of its rival machines (ST,
Sinclair and others) or one of the
Amstrad PC discs? Finally on the
951 2 are you sure that you cannot
use the discs for the 8000
machines on the 9512?
Rico May
Tonbridge
Kent
8000 PLUS A lot ol questions - however
your machine can never be an IBM
compatible land a good thing too) it has a
different microprocessor. You can't read
ST discs. Amiga discs or Mac discs. With
the right software you can read IBM
discs, discs from most CP/M computers.
Amstrad CPC discs and a tew others.
Most CP'M programs lor the 8000 series
will run on the 9512.
Little shaver
I was interested in your article
"Fast Forward" (Issue 34) and I
welcomed a simple comparison
between speeds of different
programming languages. However,
being a C programmer, I was
disappointed to see that the true
speed of the language was not
portrayed. The time quoted for the
program to run included that time
taken to display the results. Such
action is almost the same in any
language when output to the
screen is performed by calls to
CP/M. When timed on the number
crunching aspects alone, the ratio
between a Hisoft C and BASIC
programs speed increases from
2:1 to 2.5:1.
Furthermore, the variables of
the C program have been declared
inside the main() function. This
makes their storage class
automatic. Referencing such
variables has to be made via an
index of the automatic stack. If the
variables were declared before
main(). they would be allocated to
static addresses and can be
accessed by the code directly. This
reduces the time for the program to
run by 2 seconds.
Alan J Baker
Bournemouth
8000PLUS Fascinating how much mail
this subject drew considering that even
the author thought the pursuit of
benchmarks pretty pointless. We agree
however that static variables in C make a
lot of sense lor programmers even if they
make puhsts wince.
No accounting
My programs for the PCW
machines, mostly specialising in
accounting and related subjects,
88 8000 PLUS sepiOTMrffi)
are written in Mallard Basic, which
seems to me to be a logical choice
since it is the language issued with
the machines.
Features explaining or
extolling Mallard Basic are often
included in your magazine - quite
rightly so in my opinion. However,
after reading your excellent
publication, in which I have been a
consistent advertiser over quite a
long period, I have reached the
conclusion that, almost without
exception, your reviewers will
seldom have anything good to say
about systems written in Mallard
Basic.
A G Clough
Ramsay
Isle of Man
8000 PLUS Mr Clough went on to say that
occasionally the software he writes is not
taken senously because it is in Basic.
Not so. In fact many ol the programs we
review are written in Basic and we don't
even mention it. The bad press came
from attempts to write fast games in slow
Basic {mainly on earlier machines).
Mallard was written with business uses in
mind and works well. The only time anyone
would normally notice that Basic is being
used is it the programmer has done his
or her job badly.
Telephone man
Thank you for mentioning the
CP/M User Group (UK), now
known as the CP/M & MSDOS
Users' Group, in your May issue.
However, as you did not
mention how to access our bulletin
board, may I add that the
telephone number is Windsor
(0753) 868196. The protocol is 8-
bit, no parity, full duplex. There is
automatic selection of baud-rate,
and all the usual rates are
supported up to 2400 baud. If you
live out in the sticks you may
find this rate too much for BT's
lines, but I use it from Oxford
without problems.
Details of the group, and the
membership form may be down-
loaded from the board as an
alternative to writing off to Diana
Fordred at: 72 Mill Road, Hawley,
Dartford. Kent DA2 7RZ
J S Linfoot
Oxford
8000 PLUS We're sure we mentioned
those numbers somewhere in the issue
(though perhaps not in that order). We've
run out of puns on comms. sorry.
Orcslayer
Please could you help me? I am
looking for a good fantasy role-
playing game for my Amstrad PCW
8256. I have looked in two public
domain discs but I have not found
anything of particular interest.
C J Maples
Hartfield
Sussex
8000 PLUS We don't know ol any. Can
anyone help?
Bootless
Why does the 8512 sometimes not
notice that it has a B drive when
booting up LocoScript? It depends
on the moment you insert the B
disc in the drive. If you put both
discs in their slots, switch on and
simultaneously push both home,
then all is well.
However, if you start to boot
up, fumble around for the B disc
and put it in during booting, you
may hit the critical moment and
fool the machine into thinking you
have removed the drive. This
seems to be when the screen goes
green after the bars have worked
their way down. If you do it while
the bars are there or after the Loco
titles have appeared, it is OK.
However, as the disc directory is
read later on in the boot process it
may be unwise to put the disc in
too late. Better to wait until booting
is complete and do an f7.
If you get caught with a
missing drive, just do a warm
start - Shift-Extra-Exit and watch
your timing.
Bernard Hypher
Poole
8000 PLUS We've had several letters on
this subject, all ol which agree that a warm
boot cures all. On a different subject, have
you noticed how strange a sentence can
look moments after writing it?
Graphable
I have been a user of an 8256 for
years. I use it for my A level work
and my father uses it to run a small
business - specifically for
producing graphs using DR Graph.
We decided that the better
type set of a daisy wheel printer
would produce neater reports, so
we purchased Locoscript 2, printer,
interface, and cable. Again we had
no problems as far as word
processing was concerned.
Then we tried running DR
Graph, the same work disc as
before, but found that the only
graphs it would print out to the dot-
matrix had no more than 3 points
on them, and no additional text as
a memory error message kept
appearing just before printout.
Then one day, for some
reason, the interface had been
C^^eAp
^
" IT^ l*^£f*L. FOP WpiTiriO
blank vep<ie... "
removed from the rear of the
machine, and behold, any graph
you wanted could be produced. It
would appear that adding an
interface takes up the vital few K
required by 8256 users. I hope
this will save other people hours
of frustration.
Miles Pixley
Sheffield
8000 PLUS DR Graph is a fine and
venerable old program but it is very
pernickity. It would probably have been
better if Digital Research hadn't
abandoned it - as you discovered they no
longer support it.
Nice one, Kyril
A quick piece of advertising for
linguists wondering if its worth
investing in LocoScript 2
(especially if they're Slavists).
Buy it. The script looks
attractive, but the advantage lies in
the way the Russian alphabet is
moulded to our QWERTY
keyboard; on a Russian typewriter,
it becomes FYVAPROLD2HE.
Difficult, when that long-trained
finger goes left of the middle row
for A and hits something
completely different. Apart from a
few Russian letters, the whole
thing is arranged in QWERTY
order, which means you can type a
lot faster with LocoScript 2 than a
Russian typewriter.
All in all, it's made my life as a
Russian literature and translation
specialist immensely easier.
Frank Murtagh
Bishop Auckland
aOQOPLUS We're always impressed by
the thought that goes into Locomotive's
word processing software. It comes ol
having it designed tor those who can type
rather than for programmers (did we
mention Wordstar?)
Type-through
Protective
Keyboard
Cover
PCW
£10.95
(ncl.
Accidents can happen! Avoid costly
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Long lasting protection against spills
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Made of clear, flexible PVC moulded
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Available for over 200 popular
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A unique publishing support service for writers,
voluntary groups, small businesses and anyone else
who needs to get words into print.
•LASER PRINTING •DESKTOP PUBLISHING
•EDITING •COMPUTER STYLE CHECKING
•TRAINING & CONSULTANCY WORK
• DATA TRANSFER FROM LOCOSCRIPT
Expert help from experienced writers and
self-publishers. Realistic fees. Discounts for
educational groups and charities.
Contact John Hunt or Penny Hitchin at
Groundwork, Old Gatehouse, Station Square,
Grange-over-Sands, LA11 6EH. Tel 05395 33600
SIGNWRITER
Quality lettering
from your PCW
£29.95
Many extra fonts (£5.75 each plus disk), e.g.:
gMjc IDECC Choi Corn Crll
Also:
PAPERBASE De Luxe for bibliographies
LABELWRITER for product labels
OXSTAT for statistics
COLOURED RIBBONS
WIGHT SCIENTIFIC
Depi. 8P
46 Roan Street
London SElO 9JT
Tel. (Ol) 858 2699
Successful projects, reports, courses,
meetings and presentations can be
yours with Brainstorm
• It's an ideas organiser
• It enhances and encourages your thinking and creativity
• It lets you build and rearrange maps of your thoughts
• It's so fast, it never impedes your creative flow
• It's quick to learn and is genuinely easy to use
• It's a tried and tested product with thousands of users
• It comes with a full tutorial and reference manual
• It's sold and supported by the experts - its authors
Please send me:
lAmstrad PCW disk-only
iBrainStorm— I enclose £29.99.
The manual is on disk in both
LocoScript and ASCII text formats
(Further information.
a
□ f
My name is_
My address is_
Please make your cheque out to Brainstorm Software Ltd. Our address is
18 Courtlinds Close, Ruishp, Middlesex HA4 8AX. Tel: 0895 677845.
BACKPAGE
COMPETITION
We know you've been wondering what to do on those
long winter evenings (they're coming, they really
are) so here's the answer- learn another language.
Yes. with a new computer language you'll
speak lyrically to your PCW. and it's easier than you think.
Cracking C is more fun than chatting Czechoslovak; getting
Pascal pat puts Punjabi In the shade, and last (but not least),
don't even consider Coptic when we're ottering Cobol. the
language with, Incidentally, 90 percent ot all business
software to its credit.
So what do you need to do to win one 01 tnese bright
shiny new language packages, courtesy ol Hisoft -
complete with the famous Hisoft ED80 text editor? Well this
month we're going to challenge your literary creativity. We
have here a well-known press release featuring Alan Sugar
and some comedian, All we want to know is what is being
said. Using entirely subjective criteria to decide on the best
entries the three winners will each get a wonderful new
Hisoft implementation of either C, Pascal or Cobol,
allocated at random.
Entries as usual please, on the back of a postcard or
sealed envelope to Caption Competition. 4 Queen St. Bath.
BA1 1 EJ. Final entry date is the 24th of September 1989.
This month - next month
Well, it really has been good news week;
we're finally seeing some of the major new
software products promised for the PCW.
Perhaps the most impressive is
Microdesign, reviewed by Tim Smith in this
very issue. The PCW can now boast two
impressive DTP packages.
The hardware side hasn't been forgotten
either with a rare new release from Amstrad
themselves, the economically named
AS9512 sheet feeder. Unusually for
hardware, it comes with its own software. Is
this the shape of things to come?
Visiting Locomotive, and indeed other
companies, is part of the job, and we didn't
shirk it. An almost unbelievably clever
group of people, they treated us kindly and
fed us with lemonade. A thoroughly
pleasant visit.
As you've no doubt noticed we've
indulged in a mild celebration of success
on the occasion of our third birthday.
Thanks for showing up and we look
forward to many more.
Almost as if there were some guiding
hand at work, this month sees not just a
chance to win a new computer language
but the first in a review of the programming
languages available for the PCW. We shall
be looking at various languages, how they
started, where you can get them, what
they're like to use and much more.
Green business
Mini Office Plus
Yes, we actually have a working copy here at Future Towers.
Has it been worth the wait? We'll give you the high points and
the low down on the latest from Database.
Green Business
Not only does the PCW boast a green screen (well most of
them) but green businesses find them the ideal low-cost route
into computing. Andrew Bibby looks at the PCW up at the nutty
end of wholesaling.
Hard discs
Will we finally get them all in for review? We certainly hope so.
Find out if a few megabytes more can increase the sum of a
PCW owners' happiness.
Moving along now
Tim Smith looks at the computer in your pocket. They say you
can't take it with you, but several computers are small enough
to go in your pocket and cheap enough to not quite empty it
first. We grab a handful.
C for yourself
All the puns that are fit to print as we look this month at the
designer language C. And we're saving the rest for the article.
And even more
Don't forget that we'll also have Programming, Postscript,
Competition, News, Tipoffs and things we haven't even
thought of yet.
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Still the only high-res
graphics
spreadsheet
for the PCW
family
The Cracker is a unique spreadsheet for PCW
users. As well as providing the features and
facilities of a full function financial and
scientific spreadsheet, it can create complex
graphs on the screen and (dot matrix) printer.
The latest 'turbo^ version has speeded up
screen handling considerably, but still costs
only £49.95 inc VAT...
□ A new manual with comprehensive
indexing and many examples makes
the power of Cracker accessible to a
wider audience.
□ Suitable for simple adding up as well
as complex structural analysis.
□ High resolution graphics that can be
used as a stand-alone graphics
package or from calculated values:
Bar charts, stacked bar, hi-lo,pie, line,
area, XY, LogX:Y, LogX:LogY
(With multiple labelling options)
□ A very straightforward upgrade path to
16 bit editions on PCDOS and CDOS.
Powerful command structures
□ DO-WHILE iterative loops.
□ Day, date and timing functions:
DATE, DATEAFTER, DAYSAPART
DELAY, TIMELAPSE etc.
□ Macro facilities ...and much more!
Cracker:
Original and still best
Cracker was originally created over 5
years ago by Ian Searle to provide himself
with a range of facilities that he couldn't
obtain in existing spreadsheet and calc
programs.
So Cracker has one of the longest
pedigrees in the business. The fact that it
has maintained a consistent interface
when the numerous enhancements and
extensions have been added - without
undermining the basic elegance and
power of the product - is a tribute to the
original concept.
Cracker 2 continues to evolve as a live*
product under current development by its
original author: few if any other
full-featured spreadsheets for the PCW
can make this claim.
OPINION POLLS
Comparison of Pollsters
GALLUP
Pollster
Example plot from a PCW printer
Paperback Software UK Limited
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telephone 0245 265017, telex 995194 NEWSTA G, Fax 0245 263969
Paperback Software is available at Comet, Ryman, Dixons, Wilding
and good computer stores everywhere
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